NEWS
NURSES URGED TO ACT IN SUSPECTED CASES OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION Services for women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) need to be improved across the UK, according to updated guidance issued by the RCN. Currently women and girls have to rely on ‘pockets of good practice, support groups and professional expertise’ available in some cities. FGM, which is estimated to have been carried out on 125 million girls and women in Africa and the Middle East, involves removing part or all of the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons.
Lifelong disability
More than 24,000 girls in the UK under the age of 15 are at risk of genital mutilation. FGM often takes place without anaesthesia and using blades, knives or broken glass that are shared. Many girls and women die from the effects of FGM, which include
haemorrhage, shock or infection, while significantly more suffer lifelong disability. The RCN guidance says that if a nurse or midwife is concerned that a woman or child is at risk, they should use local safeguarding procedures to manage the case sensitively, as they would with any suspected abuse. In addition, cultural sensitivity must not prevent nurses from asking women and girls about FGM, the guidance says. RCN professional lead on midwifery and women’s health Carmel Bagness said: ‘The majority of nurses lack confidence asking the question about FGM because you need to know what to do with the answer. ‘Nurses need to be professionally curious about their communities so they understand the extent of FGM.’ For free resources and information on FGM until February 18, go to rcnpublishing.com/r/fgm
USE OF SCHWARTZ ROUNDS BECOMES MORE WIDESPREAD
An approach that helps staff to cope with the emotional toll of caring is now being implemented at more than 100 healthcare organisations. The number of employers using Schwartz Rounds, meetings where staff from all professions gather to discuss the emotional and social challenges of their work, has increased four times over the past two years. The rounds were recommended by Sir Robert Francis in his report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust as a way to bring about positive culture change in the NHS. Organisations implementing the rounds include 64 NHS acute trusts, 17 hospices and ten mental health trusts. Jocelyn Cornwell, chief executive of The Point of Care Foundation, which supports the rounds, said: ‘The challenge will be to keep supporting staff to deliver excellent patient care in the face of immense financial, capacity and organisational pressures.’
Most candidates who undertake assessment tests for band 5 posts at a large London NHS trust fail basic numeracy and literacy, an exclusive investigation reveals. Of 28 NHS trusts and boards across the UK that responded to a Freedom of Information survey by RCN Publishing journal Nursing Management, nine reported that they conduct numeracy or literacy tests, or both. Only Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust (CHUNFT), Essex, record failure rates. Between January and August last year, 55 per cent of the 310 candidates who undertook the band 5 assessment-centre tests at Central and North West London failed the numeracy or literacy test. Trust director of nursing and operations Andy Mattin said: ‘We do
ISTOCK
Numeracy and literacy shortcomings exposed
‘WE INTRODUCED THE TESTS BECAUSE WE HAD CONCERNS’ the literacy and numeracy tests before interviews because that is where the lion’s share fall over. We introduced the tests because we had concerns. A number of incidents had occurred. The tests allow for a much more rounded selection process. ‘The tests do not have a higher requirement than people need to enter
nurse-training programmes or to be competent for the pre-registration course.’ However, at CHUNFT, just 3 per cent of the 265 band 5 nurse candidates who undertook a test last year failed. Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust conducts drug calculation testing, which includes tasks such as converting milligrams to micrograms and calculating a positive or negative fluid balance chart. A trust spokesperson said: ‘We recognised that newly qualified nurses were more likely to make a medication error within the first three months.’ Nursing and Midwifery Council figures for 2011/12 – the most recent figures available – show that 20 per cent of the 4,250 fitness to practise referrals were for prescribing and drug administration errors, along with poor record-keeping. To read the full piece go to tinyurl.com/lfs7762
8 february 11 :: from vol 29 no 24 :: by 2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
NURSES URGED TO ACT IN SUSPECTED CASES OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION Services for women who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) need to be improved across the UK, according to updated guidance issued by the RCN. Currently women and girls have to rely on ‘pockets of good practice, support groups and professional expertise’ available in some cities. FGM, which is estimated to have been carried out on 125 million girls and women in Africa and the Middle East, involves removing part or all of the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons.
Lifelong disability
More than 24,000 girls in the UK under the age of 15 are at risk of genital mutilation. FGM often takes place without anaesthesia and using blades, knives or broken glass that are shared. Many girls and women die from the effects of FGM, which include
haemorrhage, shock or infection, while significantly more suffer lifelong disability. The RCN guidance says that if a nurse or midwife is concerned that a woman or child is at risk, they should use local safeguarding procedures to manage the case sensitively, as they would with any suspected abuse. In addition, cultural sensitivity must not prevent nurses from asking women and girls about FGM, the guidance says. RCN professional lead on midwifery and women’s health Carmel Bagness said: ‘The majority of nurses lack confidence asking the question about FGM because you need to know what to do with the answer. ‘Nurses need to be professionally curious about their communities so they understand the extent of FGM.’ For free resources and information on FGM until February 18, go to rcnpublishing.com/r/fgm
USE OF SCHWARTZ ROUNDS BECOMES MORE WIDESPREAD
An approach that helps staff to cope with the emotional toll of caring is now being implemented at more than 100 healthcare organisations. The number of employers using Schwartz Rounds, meetings where staff from all professions gather to discuss the emotional and social challenges of their work, has increased four times over the past two years. The rounds were recommended by Sir Robert Francis in his report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust as a way to bring about positive culture change in the NHS. Organisations implementing the rounds include 64 NHS acute trusts, 17 hospices and ten mental health trusts. Jocelyn Cornwell, chief executive of The Point of Care Foundation, which supports the rounds, said: ‘The challenge will be to keep supporting staff to deliver excellent patient care in the face of immense financial, capacity and organisational pressures.’
Most candidates who undertake assessment tests for band 5 posts at a large London NHS trust fail basic numeracy and literacy, an exclusive investigation reveals. Of 28 NHS trusts and boards across the UK that responded to a Freedom of Information survey by RCN Publishing journal Nursing Management, nine reported that they conduct numeracy or literacy tests, or both. Only Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust (CHUNFT), Essex, record failure rates. Between January and August last year, 55 per cent of the 310 candidates who undertook the band 5 assessment-centre tests at Central and North West London failed the numeracy or literacy test. Trust director of nursing and operations Andy Mattin said: ‘We do
ISTOCK
Numeracy and literacy shortcomings exposed
‘WE INTRODUCED THE TESTS BECAUSE WE HAD CONCERNS’ the literacy and numeracy tests before interviews because that is where the lion’s share fall over. We introduced the tests because we had concerns. A number of incidents had occurred. The tests allow for a much more rounded selection process. ‘The tests do not have a higher requirement than people need to enter
nurse-training programmes or to be competent for the pre-registration course.’ However, at CHUNFT, just 3 per cent of the 265 band 5 nurse candidates who undertook a test last year failed. Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust conducts drug calculation testing, which includes tasks such as converting milligrams to micrograms and calculating a positive or negative fluid balance chart. A trust spokesperson said: ‘We recognised that newly qualified nurses were more likely to make a medication error within the first three months.’ Nursing and Midwifery Council figures for 2011/12 – the most recent figures available – show that 20 per cent of the 4,250 fitness to practise referrals were for prescribing and drug administration errors, along with poor record-keeping. To read the full piece go to tinyurl.com/lfs7762
8 february 11 :: from vol 29 no 24 :: by 2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
