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NEWS
News from the
UK
UK Recruitment of Overseas Medical Personnel
UK Registration Process Change
UK
Nursing Agency in Scam Enquiry
News from
Australia
Skills of Overseas Nurses Called into Question
News
from South Africa
More Bogus Nurses at Work in South Africa
News from
Japan
Opposition of plans to allow more Filipino nurses into Japan
News from the
UAE
Emirates Nursing Shortage
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News from the UK
UK Recruitment of Overseas Medical Personnel
Chairman of the
British Medical Association, James Johnson, has described the
reliance on recruiting NHS doctors and nurses from developing
countries as morally indefensible. African nations are
particularly affected by serious staff shortages.
Talking to BBC Radio 4's
Today programme on March 15 2005, Mr Johnson said: "If the UK is saying
that it can't afford to train the doctors and nurses it needs to supply
its own healthcare and has, as a matter of course, to rely on developing
countries who have virtually no doctors or nurses in the first place,
something is very, very seriously wrong."
Last year over 60% of
newly-registered doctors, and more than 40% of nurses, came from
overseas.
The NHS has
reportedly saved an estimated £2.7 billion by recruiting medics trained
overseas, rather than training home-grown staff.
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UK Registration Process Change
The NMC has
recently announced that the current registration process
for overseas-trained nurses is going to change. As of
the 1 September 2005, nurses trained outside the
European Economic Area who wish to register in the UK
will have to successfully complete the Overseas Nursing
Programme (ONP).
The Programme sets out
common entry standards, a compulsory 20-day period of protected learning
and, where appropriate, a period of supervised practice. The Overseas
Nursing Programme will also see the introduction of compulsory English
language testing for all applicants. Only those who have passed the
British Council’s Academic IELTS test with a minimum score of 6.5 level,
will be able to apply for the ONP.
Sarah Thewlis, Chief
Executive and Registrar for the NMC said: “Linking registration to the
completion of a compulsory, approved education programme will make the
process more challenging for overseas-trained nurses but it will also
ensure that they are competent, well-prepared and safe to work with
patients and the public anywhere in the UK”.
Transitional arrangements
have been put in place for applicants already holding an existing NMC
decision for supervised practice and for those receiving decisions
between 1 April and 31 august 2005.
For more information:
Click Here to access the NMC’s website.
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UK Nursing
Agency in Scam Enquiry
Article in The Guardian,
Tuesday April 12, 2005 by John Carvel, social affairs editor
Allegations of a scam to
register overseas nurses to practice in the UK were referred to the
Serious Fraud Office yesterday after a nine-month inquiry by the
profession's regulator. The Nursing and Midwifery Council said 83 nurses
from India and various African countries were placed on the register
without undergoing the required training in British nursing procedures.
It said they were on the
books of a nursing agency which gave assurances that it had put them
through full-time supervised courses, but had in fact provided them with
no more than part-time familiarisation visits. The NMC said the alleged
scam was discovered when a chief nurse at a north-west London NHS trust
discovered that overseas nurses were present in the hospital without an
official reason for being there.
The council said the 83
nurses were innocent victims of the scam. They did not complete the
required period of supervised practice and would be removed from the
register within 14 days. Some may be readmitted to the register quickly,
but others may require lengthy retraining.
Four nurses employed by
the agency were being investigated under the council's fitness to
practice procedures. The council submitted a report to the SFO, but
chose not to name the agency.
A council spokesman said:
"The investigation found serious irregularities in the agency's
operation of supervised practice, including signing off nurses before
they had completed full-time supervision and putting nurses into
so-called placements in two private nursing homes and the North-West
London Hospitals NHS Trust."
Sarah Thewlis, chief
executive of the NMC, said: "Our primary duty is to protect the public
... However, we recognise the distress that our actions will cause to
the nurses concerned. They are professionals who merely wanted the
opportunity to transfer their much-needed skills to the UK. As clients
of this agency, they had every right to expect that their registration
and supervision needs would be handled in a straightforward manner."
Liz Hewett, executive
director for service delivery at the Royal College of Nursing, said:
"This will be a distressing time for these nurses and we would encourage
RCN members to contact us so we can offer our full support to try and
resolve their individual situations as speedily as possible."
Gail Adams, head of
nursing at the public service union Unison, said: "We welcomed the
publication of the government's ethical recruitment guide for
international nurses. However this case highlights the loopholes that
still exist. It's time for recruitment agencies to be regulated and we
will be calling on the next government to act urgently."
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News from Australia
Skills of Overseas Nurses Called into Question
The New South Wales Nurses
Association has said it is concerned that hundreds of overseas nurses
starting work in the state's hospitals do not have the right skills.
Premier Bob Carr says 420
overseas nurses from UK, Europe, North America and New Zealand are due
to start work in public hospitals in New South Wales over the next four
months as part of an international recruitment drive aimed at
alleviating the current nursing shortage. New Zealand is forecast to
need 40,000 additional nurses by 2010.
However, the general
secretary of the NSW Nurses Association, Brett Holmes, says they may
need to be retrained for local work. "It's not a matter of just more
hands on deck. It is a matter of ensuring that those people have the
level of skill that is appropriate for our health system," he said.
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News from South Africa
More Bogus
Nurses at Work in South Africa
According to a private
credentials verification firm, the number of bogus nurses working in
South Africa has significantly increased. There was a growing number of
"colleges" claiming to train nurses, said Ina van der Merwe, chief
executive of Kroll MIE.
"We come across the most
beautifully designed diplomas and degree certificates on a daily basis
that are utterly and totally bogus," Van der Merwe said. This warning
comes just days after the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
launched a probe into the qualifications of more than 100 000 South
African doctors.
It also follows the South
African Nursing Council's (SANC) caution to prospective nurses to be on
the lookout for unregistered training institutions offering
"unrecognised training in home-based care and health-care work".
"The only way for a
potential employer to be certain is to do a thorough pre-employment
screening through an accredited pre-employment screening company," she
said. The SANC has urged students to check the credentials of
institutions with the council before enrolling. It will not recognise
qualifications or certificates of students trained at illegal
institutions, said SANC chief executive and registrar Hasina Subedar.
The HPCSA recently
dismissed the co-ordinator of its committee for foreign-qualified
practitioners for fraudulently registering 11 doctors who were allowed
to practise in state hospitals, even though they failed evaluation tests
on entering South Africa.
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News from Japan
Opposition of plans to allow more Filipino nurses into Japan
The 500,000-strong Japanese
Nursing Association has opposed plans to allow the entry of more
Filipino nurses and health care workers as proposed under the economic
partnership agreement between the two countries.
The Tokyo-based JNA said
the entry of Filipino nurses under the framework of Japan-Philippines
economic partnership agreement (Jpepa) will not solve the lack of health
care workers. “To open our market to foreign nurses is not something
that we agree with. We do not agree with the idea that to solve the
shortage of Japanese nurses, foreigners should be tapped,” the JNA said
in a statement.
While negotiations are
ongoing for the final draft of JPEPA, a source in the Philippine
negotiating panel said only around 100 Filipino nurses will be accepted
yearly by the Japanese health care industry.
The JNA, along with
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, are opposed to proposals
from the Philippine panel to gradually increase the number of
Japan-bound Filipino nurses and caregivers. The JNA said Filipino nurses
wishing to work in Japan should first pass a language proficiency test
and the standard Japanese licensure test for nurses. If a Filipino
health care worker fails to pass the licensure examination within three
years, he/she will be deported to Manila. “We are also fighting for
Filipino nurses to receive salaries at par with Japanese nurses. Our
concern is that with the influx of cheap labor, Japanese nurses will be
the ones to suffer,” the association said.
On average, Japanese
nurses earn almost 10 times the salary of Filipino nurses in Manila. The
JPEPA is expected to be signed before the year ends and will enter into
force six months after its conclusion.
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News from the UAE
Emirates Nursing Shortage
The emirate's health service
is in immediate need of at least 30 to 40 nurses according to a senior
health official, despite the fact that many new nurses have already been
recruited.
The shortfall has been
attributed to the resignation of expatriate nurses.
According to Dr Al Nuaimi,
head of the Medical District, "An average of two to three expatriate
nurses submit resignation letters every two working days and the
emirate's hospitals and medical centres have repeatedly complained about
the serious shortage of nurses," he said.
He said the shortage of
nurses was a serious problem in the emirate.
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New-Look 21st
Century Nurse Website
The
new-look 21st Century nurse website, with information about
working internationally as a nurse has been up and running for 3
weeks and has proved very popular. We are constantly updating
the website so don't forget to keep looking! We are adding
information to the current country profiles, including social
culture, travel information, visitor attractions, language tips
etc. We will also be adding more country profiles as we know
that many of you have been looking for information on countries
not yet featured.
If
you have not already done so, then please
register with us so that we can let you know once the
information you require is available!
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21st Century Nurse
Visitors
We
have had many visitors to our site since our relaunch. We
welcome new visitors this month from Armenia, Ecuador and
Uganda. The majority of our visitors so far this month are
from the UK, USA and Australia. To see more information about
our visitors and the 21st Century Nurse Map, please
Click Here.
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Volunteer Nurses
We
have had queries from some of you regarding the possibility of
working overseas as a volunteer nurse. One of the organisations
featured in our Directory is looking for volunteer nurses for
its expeditions in countries including Namibia, Chile, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua and Malaysia.
Raleigh International is one of the leading youth
development charities in the UK. They aim to inspire people from
all backgrounds and nationalities to discover their full
potential by working together on challenging environmental and
community projects around the world. Expeditions run throughout
the year but they have an immediate need for medics (doctors and
nurses) for their 2005 expeditions in the Summer and Autumn.
(Expeditions last 3 months). If you think you could step up to
the challenge, please see our
Global Jobs section for more information.
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Discussion
Board
We
have also launched a new discussion board. So far topics
discussed include Nursing in the UK; working in the Turks and
Caicos Islands; NCLEX books; Counselling in Thailand...if you
feel you would like to get something off your chest, can answer
somebody's questions or have an unanswered question yourself,
check it out and leave your comments!
21st Century Nurse Discussion
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Joke of the
Month
Three women
die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they get there, St.
Peter says,
"We only
have one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!"
So they
enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is
almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their
best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.
Along comes
St.. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw.
St. Peter
chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck
is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!"
The next
day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St.
Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man.
He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first
woman.
The third
woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all
eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps. She
manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St.
Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes
on .... very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin. St. Peter chains
them together without saying a word.
The happy
woman says, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all
of eternity?"
The guy
says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"
This month's
joke is from:
FIESTA:
Filipino
International Emergency Services Training Association
If you have
a joke you would like to share with others, please email it to us at
info@21stcenturynurse.com
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We hope you enjoyed the 21st Century Nurse Experience. Until next time!
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