Nursing
WE SHARE YOUR PASSION FOR NURSING AND YOUR DESIRE TO GIVE PATIENTS THE VERY BEST POSSIBLE CARE.
Each day brings fresh, exciting new challenges. It’s a fast-paced, ever-changing environment where you rapidly develop your skills and experience. It’s also very supportive, vibrant and friendly. We support initiatives that put the nurses in the lead, including the development of nurse practitioner and nurse specialist roles, and nurse-led clinics and outreach services.
Nurses work across our hospitals and the community in Dorset to treat and care for sick and injured adults and children, support their treatment and promote good health. As well as nursing patients with physical illnesses, they support those with mental health problems or learning disabilities.
All newly registered professionals are invited to undertake the preceptorship programme as part of your continuing development. The beginning of a newly qualified practitioner’s career can be a challenging time. Initial experiences can shape how they develop in their career. To ensure the best possible start for newly qualified nurses, a quality preceptorship programme is essential.
The course is designed to assist you in becoming confident in your new role. The content is flexible in order to meet the needs of both individual & group members, who are all newly registered professionals. We hope you will enjoy the programme and will benefit from both the educational content and the peer support.
Nursing associate is a new role within the nursing team. Nursing associates work with healthcare support workers and registered nurses to deliver care for patients and the public.
Nursing associates work across all four fields of nursing: adult, children’s, mental health, and learning disability.
Your skills and responsibilities will vary, depending on the care setting you work in. You’ll need to demonstrate the values and behaviours of the NHS Constitution and a knowledge of physical health, mental health and illness prevention.
Your duties are likely to include:
- Undertaking clinical tasks including cannulation, venepuncture and ECGs
- Supporting individuals and their families and carers when faced with unwelcome news and life-changing diagnoses
- Performing and recording clinical observations such as blood pressure, temperature, respirations and pulse
- Discussing and sharing information with registered nurses on a patients’ condition, behaviour, activity and responses
- Ensuring the privacy, dignity and safety of individuals is maintained at all times
- Recognising issues relating to safeguarding vulnerable children and adults
Still committed to care and compassion? If you’ve ever thought about returning to practice, now is the time to do it. Supportive tutors and mentors lead a learning experience that will refresh the nursing skills needed to return to practice.
Your skills and experience are invaluable to increase the nursing workforce and improve the level of patient care that can be provided.
With this in mind, Return to Practice (RTP) programmes have recently been re-designed to make it as straightforward as possible for you to return.
Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) requirements to return to practice
If you were a registered nurse but have had a break, you will need to meet a number of requirements to re-register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). This will include completing a number of practice hours. If you have not completed the required number of practice hours you will have to complete an approved Return to Practice (RTP) programme before making an application to re-join the register.
If your registration was removed by one of the NMC’s fitness to practice panels, you will have to apply for restoration to the register.
Find out more about returning to the NMC register.
Return to Practice (RTP) programmes
Programmes differ according to how long you have been away from nursing. Full-time or part-time training is available, usually taking three to six months to complete. Return to Nursing Programmes (RTP) usually start in May and September each year and is run in conjunction with Bournemouth University.
In general you can expect:
• your course fees to be paid
• additional financial support towards childcare, travel and books
• a clinical placement where you have supernumerary status (additional to required staffing levels)
• theory and clinical based training
• simulation techniques to practice skills
• access to a mentor during training
• support from a preceptor (mentor)when you have found employment
What do I do next?
The Health Education England Comeback to Nursing website has more information about returning to nursing will give you further details.
Recruitment from outside of the UK has made a valuable contribution in the NHS over recent years and forms an important part of the workforce supply strategy of NHS organisations – alongside many other solutions.
We welcome applications from nurses trained outside the UK and have developed a dedicated support package to help with the transition of your skills and experience. Our support package includes clinical skills training during induction, an English language course, preceptorship and practice educators who will work with you in clinical practice.
Healthcare assistants (HCAs) make a valuable contribution to the delivery of high quality care to our patients. Full training for the role is provided and there are opportunities to progress your career further through a range of apprenticeships and vocational qualifications.
HCAs work in all areas of the hospital –Your role may vary slightly in different clinical areas but generally you will be assisting patients with their personal care, mobility, going to the toilet, helping them to eat and drink, completing menus and making bed. Technical skills are also required such as using a hoist and completing observations, including blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, and full training is provided.
You will have the opportunity to learn extended skills including cannulation, venepuncture and recording ECGs. Good communication is essential and you will be expected to work as part of a multidisciplinary team. Maintaining accurate documentation is another vital part of the role.
Most clinical areas follow a shift pattern, you will need to be flexible and able to work nights, weekends and bank holidays. Part-time work is also available. You will need a good standard of numeracy and literacy, as well as basic computer skills.
A caring nature and evidence of having the “6 C’s” is essential:
• Care
• Compassion
• Competence
• Communication
• Courage
• Commitment
