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Agency Nurse

How To Become A Pedriatic Nurse In The UK

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People have always turned to Google to ask about the most paging nursing field in the UK. Google has always responded by answering that Pediatric nurses earn as much as £64000+ a year and I’m certain a lot of you are intrigued. If Pediatric nursing pays that much then how does one become a pediatric nurse in the UK? Here is your answer.

What Is a pediatric nurse? 
According to the Nursing Journal, a pediatric nurse is a nurse who looks after children from birth till they turn 18 

What do pediatric nurses do? 
The specialist nurses work with children battling various diseases at different developmental stages (infancy to 18 years. They make use of soft skills like patience, empathy, and effective communication to serve and treat their patients. Pediatric nurses are usually the ones that explain to their patient’s parents the diagnosis and treatment process of their young patients. 

How does one become a pediatric nurse in the UK?
According to the NHS:

You’ll need to do a degree level qualification to be a nurse so will usually need a minimum of five GCSEs (typically including maths, English language or literature and a science subject) at grades 5/4 (C) or above or equivalent level 2 qualification, then go on to take at least two A levels (eg including a subject like human biology, psychology or sociology) or equivalent level 3 qualification such as a BTEC or apprenticeship

NHS

After that, you need to look for a job and get your NMC pin and work to build experience as you advance in your career. Alternatively, you can as a qualified nurse take a postgraduate course like a master’s in children’s nursing and start working towards gaining experience in the field.

If you are a pediatric nurse looking for agency shifts in the West Midlands, contact us at 03300300031 or send us an email at info@myshifts.work. Meanwhile, check out our other blogs on how to become an agency nurse in the UK.

Agency Nurse

5 Things To Note If You Are Considering Agency Nursing

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Over the last few months, we have extensively discussed agency nursing. We have shared tips on how to become one, and we have shared tips on what to expect and where to get agency jobs.

Some have reached out to us looking for more information about becoming agency nurses. Some have taken the leap of faith and they are already working for agencies full-time and reaping all the rewards we discussed earlier which include, a flexible schedule, a better rate and more nursing experience.

For some, taking that leap might be a stretch because of many reasons. However, for others, agency nursing is the only way to go as they yearn for a better schedule and more quid in their pockets. In case you have made up your mind and you want to become a full-time agency nurse, here are 5 things you should be aware of:

  1. Work on improving your clinical skills. – agency nurses are required to do a lot of skilled nursing tasks like blood culture collection, urinary catheterisation just to name a few. Agencies would prefer a competent worker, and if you are a competent nurse, your agency nursing journey will be long and enjoyable.
  2. When in doubt ask others – starting out as an agency nurse might be overwhelming. If you don’t know much about the tasks assigned to you, ask, if you are not sure about anything from clinical tasks to paying taxes, ask. The agency world is too small and one mistake might affect you tremendously.
  3. Be open to learning more about new procedures – because there will probably not be fixed tasks, its always good to understudy or learn about new procedures, this will help you on too many levels including helping you fit well with others and making you marketable to multiple agencies sometimes with better rates.
  4. Learn each and every shift’s dos and don’ts – this will minimize mistakes and maximize productivity at work.
  5. Ask more about prescriptions you are not sure about – if you are not sure about something on the prescription, query them. If you have any reservations bout the dosage or anything at all, do not take the prescription as gospel, ask questions.

In case you want to join our other agency nurses, contact us by sending an email with the subject agency nursing to info@myshifts.work and we will respond to your questions or call us on 03300300031

Agency Nurse

What Are The Advantages Of Agency Nursing: Hear It From An Agency Nurse

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Week 3 and we are still emphasizing why all nurses should by all means be in charge of their schedules.

Over the years here are some ways nurses in the UK have been augmenting their income:

  1. Have a full-time job elsewhere, when you get a chance pick an extra shift assigned or found at the agency.
  2. Work overtime, i.e long days and double shifts etc to make sure the salary is higher when the calender hits the last day of the month.

This week we had an opportunity to speak to one nurse who is transitioning to become a full-time agency nurse and she had this to say

… I work 4 nights a week, from Sunday to Wednesday and the other 3 nights and days, I’m with my family. I went to a church outing for the first in a decade last week and I didn’t have to work the Sunday I got back because there was no pressure for me to unlike last time.

I have managed to pay back my small loan I’m working towards building my second home in another country I really can’t complain. And to think three months ago I was depressed after our family holiday when things were not going well for me financially……

This lady was advised by her friend an agency nurse, to do agency nursing full time and she was forced by circumstances to do it. She is the happiest person around because she is seeing the benefits.

She has more time with her family, her finances are not in a quandary and she has more time for social events because she can manage her schedule.

When I asked her if she misses the security of her old job she said she doesn’t, especially the double shifts.

Just like her, sometimes there is absolutely no reason for you to pick those double shifts when you can have a flexible schedule. To get started on your agency nursing journey call us on 03300300031 or email us at info@myshifts.works alternatively fill in this form and we will contact you.