Feature
NURSING MANAGEMENT April 2009 | Volume 16 | Number 1 23
Men were scarce among Primary Health Care and
Paediatric Nurse readers, at only 2 and 3 per cent
respectively, while the world of Mental Health
Practice readers, of which 23 per cent are men,
is considerably more masculine.
Few Nursing Management readers are stuck at
desks undertaking paperwork every working day,
the survey shows, and half of them say that they
spend most of their time in clinical practice.
Ms Howarth said of nursing managers: `They need
to know their workforce and what's going on in their
clinical areas, and spending time in clinical practice
is the way to do it.'
rosemary Cook, director of the Queen's nursing
Institute, said however: `some managers think that
spending time in clinical practice gives them more
credibility, but I don't think it necessarily makes
them a better manager.'
The Daily Mail is the most popular daily
newspaper among readers of the rCn specialist
journals. one respondent confessed, however, to
reading only `other people's newspapers'.
Three quarters of respondents to the survey
overall have only ever been nurses, although
previous jobs among the other one quarter of
respondents include butcher, dancer, horse
trainer and hovercraft manager. Among the most
common previous careers are secretarial work,
banking and teaching.
When respondents were asked where they turn
for support, more than two thirds said: `Managers'.
other responses included `the pub', `the priest' and
`the mother-in-law'.
The survey also shows that Nursing Management
readers tend to oversee large teams, with 37 per cent
saying that they manage more than 40 people, and
most saying that the thing they like best about their
jobs is `making a difference to people's lives'.
Case study
Joanne Martin is an acting clinical nurse lead who manages a general paediatric
ward at St Mary's Hospital for Women and Children, part of the Central Manchester
University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is keen to undertake some formal
study, probably for a master's degree in healthcare management. She thinks she has
plenty of practical experience but wants to know more about NHS strategy.
`It would help me in my management of the ward. I need to understand more
about how the health service works: the politics, the finance and why things
happen as they do. I am a senior nurse and I haven't got a degree or a diploma
because I've only done short courses, but I could go straight to doing a master's.'
Ms Martin's ward receives patients transferred from the emergency department
at Manchester Royal Infirmary and she has overseen initiatives to improve
patient journeys between the two. In the past, for example, young patients had
assessments during transfer that involved several different professionals who
asked the same questions. `Patients used to get asked for their addresses four
or five times, and it got wearing for them,' she says.
She thinks that standards of NHS care have risen in recent years, but that there
are also now higher expectations of staff, increasing the likelihood of patient
complaints being received and of staff involvement in legal actions when things
go wrong: `I think some nurses have this in the back of their minds and it affects
their confidence.' Ms Martin says that, because there is so much pressure on
nurses to reach government targets, people should think carefully before entering
the nursing profession. She is enthusiastic about her own specialty, however.
`I like learning about people,' she says. `I find them fascinating.'
Box 2 Nursing as a career
The survey asked why managers would recommend
nursing as a career. Responses included:
`It has variety. It is emotionally and physically
demanding, but it can also be humbling.'
`There are still opportunities to make a difference
to healthcare services.'
`Life-long friends and colleagues.'
`When you've made a difference, you never forget
the feeling.' Christian Duffin is a freelance
journalist
JohnHoulihan

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