The introduction of an innovative primary care service to many sites in the UK has dramatically reduced incidents and accidents,has improved the working conditions of the workforce.

However what the industry lacks is an understanding of nursing and the experience required to function safely on a site.

 

The new site nurse does not sit in a medical room reading Heat Magazine,doing her knitting..... the Construction Nurse is Trauma trained/Nebosh and is a pro active member of the Site managment team.To implement a pro active approach to Health Information Education/Training.

 

The agancy nurse, usually has no A/E training, no recent Hospital experience,recieves no professional support or training.Is given no guidance as to how to treat/document and follow up the patients seen and presents a potential threat to patient and construction company.

Be warned..... a Nurse.... is not always the right nurse for your site. 

 

Now here i am in complete agrrement with you , For years they have been insisting on the right type of first aid training for site staff or you cannot aply it so it stands to reason that if you have to have a site nurse that they should also have the training required to perform in the environment to that which they work.

Jeremy Clarkson has the tital of doctor, would you want him to set your broken leg or bandage your head.

A bit of a generalisation. We have received agency nurses who have been very professional.

The sentiment is certainly right anyway.

While i have to agree that you are right, i also have to say that part of the problem occurs due to untrained staff doing the recruiting, if someone knows bog all about emmergency first aid do you really think they are the right person to be employing the nurse,  but this is a position a lot of sites are in. The word nurse like so many forms of employment has many definitions as to there ablity. Someone somewhere has to be accountable for ensure the right nurse has been employed

You are totally right on every point..... untrained staff doing the recruitment it happens all the time "a nurse is a nurse" and again I agree totally the word nurse has so many definitions,on a few sites I,ve seen nurses who havnt been in a hosptal for 15 yrs....! with Life support training and no equipment!.....as far as the accountability goes there is a company out there specialising in Construction Nurses.... they are all A/E trained and have Nebosh..which is incredibley innovative I have to say...... I,ve seen them at work and its brilliant how thay work along side the side management especially the safety managers...and provide not just First aid.... but valuable primary care...for those who cant get to a GP....plus brilliant health education to the sites on all subject.... the impact on site welfare is just excellant.... I believe theyre called Constructioncare Ltd.... might be worth a look

 

thanks for your thoughts.... its an interesting H&S angle we all need to be looking at I think....

 

Hi all,I am a construction nurse in Australia and I am a qualified critical care nurse.I find that the employees on site come to me for anything and everything.They trust in my clinical skills and judgement and I keep myself developed by attending conferences and doind self-directed learning packages to keep up to date with trends in the medical field.I believe it is imperative that qualified staff be entrusted on sites as the outcomes will be way better.I also have other specialised qualifications that enable me to have all round knowledge.The workers here love their nurse!