Stay on the sunny side

Published: 08 December 2010

Letter from the Editor

Richard Brownhill writes about the need to stay positive, focused and resilient.

Clear priorities

Well we have seen the first snowfall, indicating our impending winter activity. The increasing number of city ice skating rinks, freezing temperatures and the growing needs of those with long-term conditions will become more commonplace over the forthcoming months. And in and amongst – we also hope there will be some festivities and a chance for a little time off! 

I am certain that, in your local areas, you are all too aware of uncertainties around the future structures of services but, given my preamble, it is clear we will always need places to care for people in their hour of need. 

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter recently raised the importance of having nurses ‘protected’ within the changing health care arena, as they represent a versatile workforce. The RCN’s Frontline First campaign continues to give a snapshot of where actions are being taken to influence nurse staffing and vacancy freezes, so please take a look at this online.

Skill mix and workforce review – fill in the survey

It will be essential to get all of you engaged in the ECA’s skill mix/workforce development tool over the coming months (see article in this newsletter). I recently did some work with a team of staff around some simple metrics for staffing levels, getting them to capture every two hours over the course of a week, along with some rating of the activity and, moreover, finding out how the department felt at that time. Whilst there is more to do with this work, it is a good exercise to get staff engaged in owning the process in a collaborative manner and capturing the ‘feel’ of the activity.

Just like patients, I think it is often the experience of the shift that may determine its impact on nurses (for example, complex patients, difficult individuals), rather than the number of staff, per se. Why can some teams manage with less staff? Maybe because their systems are more effective and they have, therefore, more resilience. There is bound to be a need for a critical mass of a workforce, but the creation of a positive working environment is just as important. All of us have a responsibility, all of us are decision makers and we can help our teams to remain energised through this period. 

And of course – if all else fails, lock yourself indoors with hot chocolate and whipped cream!