Nursing Standard Podcast

What is it like to be a newly registered nurse? 

Making the transition from nursing student to newly registered nurse is exciting, but it can also be nerve-wracking. 

Securing a role that is the right fit for you – with the right support at the right time – is crucial if you are to thrive in your new career. 

But how do you go about getting your first job and what should you be looking for in a good employer? Support and development in the workplace is vital, so what does a good preceptorship programme look like? 

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast answers all these questions and more. 

Our guest Bethany Tuckwood, a newly registered nurse in the emergency department at St Richards Hospital in Chichester in Sussex, and co-lead of the RCN newly registered nurse network, shares her experiences. 

She tells interviewer RCNi career development editor Clare Lomas about the importance of taking care of yourself and building good support networks around you, with advice on raising concerns and preparing for revalidation.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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The emotional distress of caring for seriously ill and dying patients can take its toll on nurses who may struggle with feelings of unresolved grief. If it is not recognised and dealt with issues can build up that can lead to burn out, compassion fatigue, inadequate care for patients and nurses leaving the profession.

So, what can nurses do to protect themselves and maintain healthy and happy careers?

This episode explores the findings of research conducted with children’s nurses and what it revealed about their experiences of caring for seriously ill and dying children. However, these experiences will not only be felt by those working with children but by nurses working with adults in many different settings.

This episode looks at the psychology behind these issues and why at a time of immense pressure on services, increasingly complex care, acute staff shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic they are so important to deal with. There are some tips on what all nurses can do to maintain their well-being and what employers can do to support the workforce, including an argument that clinical supervision should be compulsory.

Guests

Speaking to Nursing Children and Young People editor Christine Walker are Alice Nugent, a psychotherapist at Dublin Business School, and Agnes Higgins, professor of mental health in the school of nursing and midwifery at Trinity College Dublin. They are two of the authors of the recently published study in the RCNi journal Nursing Children and Young People titled Nurses’ experiences of managing vulnerability when working with seriously ill children.

https://journals.rcni.com/nursing-children-and-young-people/evidence-and-practice/nurses-experiences-of-managing-vulnerability-when-working-with-seriously-ill-children-ncyp.2022.e1403/abs

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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Major changes are afoot to advanced community nursing qualifications.

So, what do they mean for nurses’ careers? And what do employers, universities and other providers delivering education and training need to do?

This episode explores the new standards for specialist community public health nursing (SCPHN) and specialist practice qualifications (SPQs) introduced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Guests NMC executive director of professional practice Geraldine Walters and NMC assistant director of professional practice Anne Trotter explain what nurses need to know about the changes hailed as the most significant shake-up to advanced community nursing qualifications for 30 years.

They speak to Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn about what the standards entail, how nurses can gain one of the qualifications and how the courses are quality assured.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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Starting a nursing degree is exciting … but can also be overwhelming.

So, where do you start? How can you prepare for academic study? What books should you buy (if any … yet) - and what are the best shoes to walk the wards in?

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast answers all these questions and more on how to navigate those first weeks, months and year of a nursing course.

Our guests Lin Fidgin, a third year adult nursing student at Teeside University, and Louise Hyett-Collins, who is in her second year of her adult nursing course at University of the Highlands and Islands, give the lowdown on what they wish they’d known before starting out.

They explain the importance of being curious and talk about the best social media accounts to follow and how to build a supportive network. The students also give advice on time management and speak about the importance of being kind to yourself.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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Managing the continence care of patients with dementia in hospital can be a challenge for time-pressed staff.

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast explores this nursing practice which is little discussed yet vital to patient dignity and care outcomes.

Katie Featherstone, director of the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory at the University of West London, speaks about her research into the continence care of people with dementia during a hospital admission.

She discusses ‘pad cultures’ which is the routine use of continence pads for these hospital patients regardless of their continence or independence.

Based on her team’s observation of six wards in three hospitals over 12 months, Professor Featherstone explains why this practice is happening and what can be done to change the culture.

She talks to RCNi senior nurse editor Richard Hatchett about the influence of workload and risk management on pad cultures and how senior nurses can show leadership in this area.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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Is your workplace missing some nurses? Is there a perpetual struggle to fill rota gaps?

This isn’t just a UK problem but one that is reflected across the world, impacting global health in the most significant way.

In this episode, International Council of Nurses chief executive Howard Catton talks about the issues with recruiting staff from overseas and how worldwide nursing shortages are impacting other major challenges such as climate change, including extreme heatwaves.

Mr Catton tells interviewer journalist Erin Dean what needs to be done to protect the future of nursing and healthcare.

In addition to talking about the role of nurses in the COVID-19 pandemic, he discusses how they continue to remain on the frontline of global conflict with the war in Ukraine.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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How do you spot and treat monkeypox? And how concerned should nurses be about the UK outbreak of this relatively rare virus?

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast examines what nursing staff need to know about the condition.

Our guest is Belinda Loftus, a sexual health nurse and a manager at the Spectrum Community Health social enterprise, which provides enhanced primary care services across the north of England.

She tells journalist Erin Dean about what can put people at higher risk of catching monkeypox.

Ms Loftus. who is also a committee member at the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, explains how the disease is transmitted, and the kind of public health advice nurses can give to help people reduce their risk.

She discusses the treatment options , the success of the smallpox vaccine in managing the condition, and how healthcare professionals can protect themselves if they suspect a patient has the virus.

Listeners will also hear which settings are most likely to come across cases, and which conditions it may be confused with.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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How can the nursing regulator be fair to the professionals on its register while protecting the public?

The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s ability to remove a registrant’s licence to practise – their livelihood – understandably makes some nursing staff fearful of the regulator. 

Research has also shown inequalities for certain groups of nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the NMC register who face fitness to practise proceedings.

This episode of the podcast hears from NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe who, since taking up the helm in 2019, has been striving to make the regulator fairer and kinder. 

Ms Sutcliffe speaks to Nursing Standard editor Flavia Munn about eliminating discrimination from NMC processes including whether English language testing requirements for overseas nurses should be less stringent.

She talks about supporting overseas nurses to flourish in their careers rather than overlooking them for promotion because ‘they will return home soon’.

Ms Sutcliffe also discusses the retention of the nursing workforce and why the UK cannot rely on international recruitment alone to fix staffing issues.

And she reveals her personal experience of staying resilient and why safety always comes first – including on her bike.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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Dysphagia describes eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties in an individual of any age. 

This episode of the Nursing Standard podcast explores this complex and potentially life-threatening problem, what nurses need to be looking out for, and how and when it should be escalated.

Guest Rachael Jones, senior advanced nurse practitioner in stroke at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and chair of the National Stroke Nursing Forum, talks about which patients are at higher risk, and which signs suggest further assessment is needed.

In the interview with journalist Erin Dean, she explains the impact that swallowing difficulties can have on people’s lives and how the views of the patient need to be taken into account.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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As days get longer and people spend more time outdoors, the risk of contracting Lyme disease from infected ticks increases.

The latest episode of the Nursing Standard podcast explores what nurses need to know about this condition.

Podcast guest is Nick Beeching, a professor in tropical and infectious diseases from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

In the interview with Nursing Standard journalist Erin Dean, he talks about who is at highest risk, how to spot a potential Lyme disease infection, and what treatment should be given.

He also talks about why Lyme disease has caused some controversy, as people seek tests abroad.

For more episodes of the Nursing Standard podcast, visit rcni.com/podcast

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