Afc

make sure you have an up to date Job description, signed by your manager, which reflects the job you do and the responsibilities and accountabilities. The bands are supposed to reflect the detail and responsibility attached to the job you do. I understand some of the early implementer sites are being matched at a comparable or lower grade so I have no great faith in A4C

ok first ............and I mean no disrespect here......... but are you a nurse practitioner with the appropriate qualifications?? ie have you undertaken either an honours or master degree in an accredited nurse practitioner pathway?? if not then you are not a nurse practitioner........... see the RCN definition of one.

if you are a real nurse practitioner then you should be at least an H grade now. nurse practitioners are expecting to come out as high 7 - but we are aiming for band 8.

but its all in the melting pot!!

Karen

Karen

I am a nurse practitoner with BSc in nursing studies and Masters in my speciality with numerous research publications under my belt. Managment has given me a new F job description stating that 1st or 2nd is not required at this grade.

G-grade nurse practitioner has also recieved their job description, but in theirs MA qualification is necessary. Our G-grade does not even possess 1st degree yet.

We have told that F's & G's will be in same band.

RCN definition of one NP's does not mean anything to managment as they have own rules and regulation which we have to adhere to. Sad but its true.

Karen

I am a nurse practitoner with BSc in nursing studies and Masters in my speciality with numerous research publications under my belt. Managment has given me a new F job description stating that 1st or 2nd is not required at this grade.

G-grade nurse practitioner has also recieved their job description, but in theirs MA qualification is necessary. Our G-grade does not even possess 1st degree yet.

We have told that F's & G's will be in same band.

RCN definition of one NP's does not mean anything to managment as they have own rules and regulation which we have to adhere to. Sad but its true.

ouch!!

why are you still there??? I take you are in secondary care? out here in primary care, NP's are valued........! I'm an NP with an extended and supplementary prescribing qualification........ just been told by my GP's that when I do cover for them, I will get paid locum fees......! most NP's in primary care are paid at H level, some at I. I know that secondary care NP's seem to be having problems with the AfC stuff.

are you a member of the NPUK mailing list?? we have been talking long and hard about this issue. If youre not and you want details.. please email me.

I'm stunned at how little you are valued

Karen

the concept behind AfC is good... being paid for we actually do. However.. it all comes down to accurate job descriptions and I'm having real problems writing mine!! I have 2 jobs.. one in general practice and one for the PCT. general practice have decided not to adopt AfC.. so ho hum.

the gateways.. well dont think thats quite as scary as you paint it. no-one is making anyone go through the things! and the gateways are being set high in the pay bands so think logically. the pay bands and KSF is based on the premise that after a certain amount of time, you will have reached a certain competency and thus go through the gateway. Everyone will have an annual appriasial. Its up to the individual to identify their educational needs. the employer should then meet those needs. IF when time comes for a gateway, you havent met the KSF and its because you havent been enabled by your employer to meet those identified needs, because of staffing etc then you will pass through the gateway. if you havent met the KSF because you decided not to go to the training even though you could have, then you wont. Does that make sense? so its not as dark as would seem.

staffing levels.........ah well back in the bad old days when I training........... student nurses were on the wards within 9 weeks of starting training. we knew what we had signed up for!! there was a high drop out rate at 18/12- similiar to the drop out rate at qualification now. we actually disliked degree nurses 'cos they never wanted to get their hands dirty (and now I'm a degree nurse!) maybe in the drive to be professionals and get recognition as such we are training nurses who dont want to do the basic nursing care etc. as a nurse I am aghast when I have patients discharged to me with foot drop and pressure areas. I have worked with sister who would have pinned you to the wall and slowly skinned you alive for allowing a patient to develop a pressure sore. I dont our training was brilliant, but we did deliver good care. I think the present training has a lot that is good but a lot that is bad. As a training practice we are host to student nurses.........and I have to say, the majority of them I wouldnt let within 100 feet of a patient! better pay and conditions is the key. we want respect.. I cant respect a nurse that says she can give good patient care while wearing a ton of makeup, hair all over the place and earings/rings etc. no unifrom code to speak of. thats how the students dress that we get...........and they get sent home to tidy up.

we need......... better pay and conditions, more respect for ourselves and the work we do. to take a pride in what we do, in delivering the care we give and to always put the patient first. we need to attract back all the nurses who have left because of the unfriendly hours.........there are lots of nurses my age who are not working because of the shift patterns and rotation onto nights. I would not work a 12hr day.. I have children and family commitments and it would be impossible to do. we need to provide affordable good child care and maybe afterschool clubs. we know what we need to do. I just wish someone would do it!!

and while I'm on the soap box..........they can leaver our pensions alone, how about giving us some health care benifits? the police get free glasses, the met police get free travel in london... what do we get???

ok off the soap box for today!

Karen

' I cant respect a nurse that says she can give good patient care while wearing a ton of makeup, hair all over the place and earings/rings etc. no unifrom code to speak of. thats how the students dress that we get...........and they get sent home to tidy up.'

I couldnt agree more with all your statements especially the one above!

Sometimes I feel we have gone so far the other way that as a SSN I am 'afraid' ( not really but you know what I mean) of asking the students to do anything!!!

I didnt mean to make gateways sound scarey but I am concerned re the suitability of some staff to be able to pass because of lack of training ect and this could be used as an excuse by some.

I enjoyed your soapbox lol.

Made me laugh prior to work as I am often stood on one!!!!

You on soap box!! If you are it better be bigger enough for two!!

You on soap box!! If you are it better be bigger enough for two!!

Now i wonder who these two nurses could be2!!!!!!!!!.You both remind me of people that i work with.

During signing of my new job decription there was a dispute between me and my line manager regarding the wording of some issues for eg:

my job decription stated: "to promote health eduction in client group attending ward/department" i agued here as i do not just "promote" but develop evidence based health education. This lead to another statment in my job description.

which stated "contribute to audit of the service and ensure quality is maintained" again i do not just contribute to this process, i develop audit/resarch tool and conduct audit/research independently. And thirdly in my job descritption it stated "actively contribute to formulating policies". Here i just do not contribute but review the policies and protocol that directly affecting my speciality.

So although no changes were made to my job descrition, i was told by my manager to add these items. We were told that we are allowed to add up to 4 items that we feel that we are doing that is not in our job descrition. Other argument was that i had more then 4 items to add but was not allowed.

By the way presently i am specialist nurse practitoner with BSc in nursing and hold Masters in my own speciality and on F grade.