Attraction and retention of nurses: a challenging time in care homes

Attracting and retaining nurses in the care home sector is increasingly difficult. A key challenge is to ensure older people’s nursing is seen as an attractive career move, says Elaine Farrer, operations director at south coast provider Colten Care.

Rather than being an interesting or high-powered career, older people’s care is too often seen as simply where you end up when you are no longer good enough for the NHS.

This is completely untrue of course.

'Nurses are responsible for patients holistically'

Nurses in the care home sector have fulfilling roles. They are responsible for patients holistically and often in sole charge of their clinical care.

Unlike the NHS there isn’t a doctor on hand to refer to, so decisions about care mean nurses have to be at the top of their game.

At Colten Care Ltd we recognise how valuable nurses are and that we must support them to deliver consistently high levels of care and lead a team of carers effectively.

We have risen to this challenge in the shape of a regular, highly-interactive conference called Clinical Excellence Day.

This year more than 70 registered general and mental health nurses from across Colten Care, plus our senior operations managers, gathered at the AFC Bournemouth football stadium for the event.

The day is constructed entirely around the wants of the nurses. They request the content and we then set about providing engaging and interactive workshops to cover it.

The aim is to give nurses the opportunity to support their continued professional development, consolidate learning and skills training, meet peers and share experiences.

Care home providers need to 'invest in training and support' of nurses

Being the best nurse you can be is part of your professional code. Residents deserve the best care and to do that we, as care home providers, have to invest in training and support of our nurses by thinking differently.

We want the care sector to be of significant interest when nurses are looking for that next career move - not a job move before they retire.

Through the feedback from the last Clinical Excellence day I believe we are making a mark in being attractive to nurses and valuing them as professionals.

In this year’s post-event questionnaire, 98 per cent of respondents said the event exceeded their expectations and the time spent was worthwhile. 99 per cent agreed the topics covered were relevant and interesting and 100 per cent said they engaged fully with the practical workshop exercises.

Event 'made me feel valued as a nurse and as a person'

Gina Dutt, Senior Nurse at our Chichester home, Wellington Grange, told us: “It was a great day, energetic and informative, with the chance to share information with each other. Some of it was a refresher and it’s always nice to have that opportunity.

"There were some great practical tips on managing the time sensitivity of Parkinson’s medication which I am already applying on behalf of our residents. It was also really good to speak face-to-face with the equipment suppliers who were there on the day. The whole event really did make me feel valued as a nurse and as a person.”

Caring for older people is a complex business. We, therefore, think long and hard about how to be the employer of choice in this field.

We do everything we can to provide the calibre of nurses that our residents deserve. We want them to be reassured they are being cared for by committed professionals at the top of their game.

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