NEWS
‘Don’t blame nurses for poor patient satisfaction, blame staff shortages’ @NSeditor
Sending nurses to ‘caring school’ will do nothing to improve patient satisfaction rates in hospitals, which should instead focus on employing more, better-qualified nurses, according to a global nursing expert. Linda Aiken, a world authority on the link between nurse staffing and patient outcomes, said her research showed nurses in England are the most susceptible to burnout in Europe and have no chance of meeting patients’ expectations. ‘It is time to get rid of the narrative that nurses do not care,’ she said. ‘This is absolutely wrong. Nurses in English hospitals have the highest burnout in Europe. This means to me that they are trying their best but they have an impossible job, no matter how much they want to do it. ‘You are not going to increase patient satisfaction by sending nurses to caring school.’ Professor Aiken is director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of
Nurses in England have no chance of meeting patients’ expectations, says Linda Aiken
MARTIN ELLARD
By Graham Scott
Pennsylvania. She was at the University of South Wales to deliver the annual Winifred Raphael memorial lecture, organised by the RCN research society. Her comments on sending nurses to ‘caring school’ follow moves by the English government to force all would-be nurses to work as healthcare assistants for up to a year before starting their training.
BBC RAPPED OVER NIGHTINGALE PORTRAYAL A children’s programme about Florence Nightingale has been withdrawn after it was found to have depicted the nursing heroine as racist. The BBC Trust partially upheld a complaint by members of the Nightingale Society about an episode of sketch show Horrible Histories on CBBC. The programme showed Miss Nightingale rejecting four applications from Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole to join the nursing corps, telling her it was ‘only for British girls’. However, the trust rejected another part of the complaint that a scene in which both nurses are seen jostling to
get through a door at the same time indicated racism. ‘I am pleased that the BBC trustees have put an end to the travesty of portraying Florence Nightingale as a racist,’ said Nightingale Society member Lynn McDonald. ‘It was embarrassing to have to argue that she was not a racist.’ A BBC spokesperson said: ‘We note and accept the findings. The intention of this Horrible Histories sketch was never to undermine the reputation of such an important historical figure as Florence Nightingale, but to open up a discussion about the attitudes of the time.’
She said there is incontrovertible evidence from the RN4CAST study, which involved interviews with 34,000 nurses and more than 11,000 patients at 61 hospitals in 12 European countries, that patient satisfaction will only increase when hospitals improve nurse-patient ratios, employ more nurses with degrees and enhance working environments. ‘We hear a lot, especially in the UK, that patients are not satisfied, and a lot of blaming of nurses – “Nurses are not caring, they’re not empathetic, we should send all the nurses to caring school”. This is a narrative that nurses have perpetuated. I don’t get it. ‘Patients probably have a good case for complaining, but it does not have to do with nurses not being compassionate. It has to do with there not being enough nurses at the bedside.’ There is a business case for employing more, better-qualified nurses, Professor Aiken said, due to the savings made by reducing readmission rates and minimising ‘never-events’. ‘The idea that hospitals are saving money by reducing staff numbers does not stack up,’ she said.
10 october 8 :: vol 29RCNi.com no 6 :: 2014 STANDARD Downloaded from by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 26, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
‘Don’t blame nurses for poor patient satisfaction, blame staff shortages’ @NSeditor
Sending nurses to ‘caring school’ will do nothing to improve patient satisfaction rates in hospitals, which should instead focus on employing more, better-qualified nurses, according to a global nursing expert. Linda Aiken, a world authority on the link between nurse staffing and patient outcomes, said her research showed nurses in England are the most susceptible to burnout in Europe and have no chance of meeting patients’ expectations. ‘It is time to get rid of the narrative that nurses do not care,’ she said. ‘This is absolutely wrong. Nurses in English hospitals have the highest burnout in Europe. This means to me that they are trying their best but they have an impossible job, no matter how much they want to do it. ‘You are not going to increase patient satisfaction by sending nurses to caring school.’ Professor Aiken is director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of
Nurses in England have no chance of meeting patients’ expectations, says Linda Aiken
MARTIN ELLARD
By Graham Scott
Pennsylvania. She was at the University of South Wales to deliver the annual Winifred Raphael memorial lecture, organised by the RCN research society. Her comments on sending nurses to ‘caring school’ follow moves by the English government to force all would-be nurses to work as healthcare assistants for up to a year before starting their training.
BBC RAPPED OVER NIGHTINGALE PORTRAYAL A children’s programme about Florence Nightingale has been withdrawn after it was found to have depicted the nursing heroine as racist. The BBC Trust partially upheld a complaint by members of the Nightingale Society about an episode of sketch show Horrible Histories on CBBC. The programme showed Miss Nightingale rejecting four applications from Jamaican-born nurse Mary Seacole to join the nursing corps, telling her it was ‘only for British girls’. However, the trust rejected another part of the complaint that a scene in which both nurses are seen jostling to
get through a door at the same time indicated racism. ‘I am pleased that the BBC trustees have put an end to the travesty of portraying Florence Nightingale as a racist,’ said Nightingale Society member Lynn McDonald. ‘It was embarrassing to have to argue that she was not a racist.’ A BBC spokesperson said: ‘We note and accept the findings. The intention of this Horrible Histories sketch was never to undermine the reputation of such an important historical figure as Florence Nightingale, but to open up a discussion about the attitudes of the time.’
She said there is incontrovertible evidence from the RN4CAST study, which involved interviews with 34,000 nurses and more than 11,000 patients at 61 hospitals in 12 European countries, that patient satisfaction will only increase when hospitals improve nurse-patient ratios, employ more nurses with degrees and enhance working environments. ‘We hear a lot, especially in the UK, that patients are not satisfied, and a lot of blaming of nurses – “Nurses are not caring, they’re not empathetic, we should send all the nurses to caring school”. This is a narrative that nurses have perpetuated. I don’t get it. ‘Patients probably have a good case for complaining, but it does not have to do with nurses not being compassionate. It has to do with there not being enough nurses at the bedside.’ There is a business case for employing more, better-qualified nurses, Professor Aiken said, due to the savings made by reducing readmission rates and minimising ‘never-events’. ‘The idea that hospitals are saving money by reducing staff numbers does not stack up,’ she said.
10 october 8 :: vol 29RCNi.com no 6 :: 2014 STANDARD Downloaded from by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 26, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
