Nursing in the UK

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I am a registered nurse in the US, and I'd like to get some information on how nursing works in the UK...for example:

1. Are nurses called "Registered Nurses" or "Licensed Nurses" or are they referred to as another name? Here in the US, they are referred to as Registered Nurses (RN's).

2. What is the process for becoming a nurse in the UK?

3. How might a nurse in the UK be recruited to work in the US or vise versa.

4. What is the hiring process to be placed in acute care?

Thanks!:roll

Agree Angel Ann, it depends on where you work and what speciality you work in. For example I work with stroke patients and the staff here carry out swallow assessments, often we are called from other wards to carry out swallow assessments as the nurses on other wards either can't or do not feel competent to do so. I however would not be happy nor feel competent listening and assessing lung sounds since I have neither received training no assessment in this area. However I would imagine a nurse working within ITU or respiratory would have these skills and been assessed as competent.

I appreciate that you are interested in other countries and the way that they may deliver nursing care.. However until you are actually working in an ICU in the UK please don't assume or imply that patients are not assessed completely by nursing staff.... to set the record straight I have worked in an Adult General ICU for almost five years and we DO assess patient's heart and lung sounds hourly and we also listen to bowel sounds.. we also take blood canulate, catheterize insert NG tubes and the list is enless... we also wean our patients from invasive ventilation and initiate non invasive ventilation as needed we don't have respiratory therapists over here they are called nurses..we don't have an iv team we do it ourselves we don't have as many specialist nurses as the states... we also do our own CVVH ... and on top of all that we give the bedside care.. we make the beds do the bed baths we also was our patients hair and moisturize their skin we do the turns hoists and repositioning of our patients we don't have RPN's or LPN's or what ever you want to call your assistance generally speaking we don't get help from any one other than another nurse ... we work hard and we try very hard to provide excellent care! so in future don't write with a tone that suggests that we don't assess our patient's properly because MOST nurses do and if they don't then that's not right !

I have been reading on this thread and I really enjoy learning about nursing in other countries. I have a question for the UK nurses. I am a RN in ICU and one of my basic skills is to auscultate heart/lung/bowel sounds to aide in assessing my patients. I have read in numerous places that UK nurses don't auscultate heart/lung/bowel sounds. So my question is, How do you assess your patient's condition? For example a patient having shortness of breath. The very first thing I would do is listen to lung sounds. If the patient has rales in all lung fields, I am going to think the patient is fluid overloaded and I would prepare to give the patient lasix IV push. If I didn't hear any lung sounds, I would probably think pneumothorax and prepare for a chest tube insertion. (of course these are just worst case scenarios) Another example would be someone that has had abdominal surgery and listening for bowel sounds to return. I am just interested in what techniques or what procedures UK nurses have for patient assessment in situations similiar to the ones above.

Schroeder

All I can say is that....the population of their elderly is high!!

we never run out of social problems to sort out...

whatever they've done with the deliver of health care----that's the backfire..

got it?

""""""""""""am a nurse!! get me outta here!!

Liza, I don't think that question was meant disrespectfully at all. And just so you know, LPNs and RPNs are in fact nurses. Implying otherwise might be construed as being disrespectful to them, but I am sure you didn't mean it that way:)

I appreciate that you are interested in other countries and the way that they may deliver nursing care.. However until you are actually working in an ICU in the UK please don't assume or imply that patients are not assessed completely by nursing staff.... to set the record straight I have worked in an Adult General ICU for almost five years and we DO assess patient's heart and lung sounds hourly and we also listen to bowel sounds.. we also take blood canulate, catheterize insert NG tubes and the list is enless... we also wean our patients from invasive ventilation and initiate non invasive ventilation as needed we don't have respiratory therapists over here they are called nurses..we don't have an iv team we do it ourselves we don't have as many specialist nurses as the states... we also do our own CVVH ... and on top of all that we give the bedside care.. we make the beds do the bed baths we also was our patients hair and moisturize their skin we do the turns hoists and repositioning of our patients we don't have RPN's or LPN's or what ever you want to call your assistance generally speaking we don't get help from any one other than another nurse ... we work hard and we try very hard to provide excellent care! so in future don't write with a tone that suggests that we don't assess our patient's properly because MOST nurses do and if they don't then that's not right !

I want to apologize to Liza. My post was not meant to offend anyone. I was just interested in learning how nurses in other countries assess their patients. Whereas in the US I assess my patients in a certain way, nurses in other countries might assess their patients in a completely different way. I don't believe I implied that your patients were not assessed completely. I was just interested in learning other ways to assess patients. As for the comments on providing beside care, I do just the same. In several ICUs across the US you will find that the nurses do primary care. With primary care, you do everything for your patient from assessment to meds to hygiene care. LPNs are not our assistants they are highly respected members of the nursing community. Once again I just want to apologize to Liza for my post.

Schroeder

........... For example a patient having shortness of breath. The very first thing I would do is listen to lung sounds.........

in our case, yes we do listen for the lung sounds but it doesnt stop ther..

all at the same tym, assessing how the pt breathes, etc. etc...we monitor the sats...then check CBGs..(capillary blood gases)..see if pt is type I or type II resp failure... if type 2, diuretics is a part of the conventional therapy then.. while we initiate non-invasive ventilation... kewl, right?

++++++

i hate anaelids!!!!!

You are right. In the UK, people can be selfish. I would happily pay a couple of percent more tax per pound to see better health care as well as better education etc etc. However, lowering taxes is a vote winner, and unfortunatley people generally can't see beyond the end of their nose. Tax the rich :chuckle !!!!!

or even private health insurance. I have always been astounded at people who say " i pay my taxes, why should i pay for private health insurance"

Why are people willing to pay for car insurance, house and contents insurance, income protection insurance but not private health insurance.

or even private health insurance. I have always been astounded at people who say " i pay my taxes, why should i pay for private health insurance"

Why are people willing to pay for car insurance, house and contents insurance, income protection insurance but not private health insurance.

I think there is a world of difference. Health care should be free on the basis of need. Not on the ability to pay. It's a person's life. What if you simply can't afford a "good" package.

Just out of curiosity, how much is an "average" health insurance.

I think there is a world of difference. Health care should be free on the basis of need. Not on the ability to pay. It's a person's life. What if you simply can't afford a "good" package.

Just out of curiosity, how much is an "average" health insurance.

Health Insurance costs vary so much, it would be impossible to say. I know here, we do lots of indigent care, (free to them) but someone has to pay for it in the end (my taxes) I would like to think everyone that needs healthcare gets it, but I know better. Though I am a nurse, I KNOW many of the lower income friends of my kids can't get help because at a salary of minimum wage, because they choose to be employed, they can't get what those that aren't employed (by choice or by situation) get for free; what sense does that make? :crying2:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you buy insurance you are essentially trying to minimise the cost of your potential medical expenses by spreading the cost and the risk among all the other policyholders. You pay into a central pot, and hope that you will never actually need to draw on it. The potholders gamble that however much is paid in will cover the amount paid out. They also take a percentage for their time and expenses, and a bit of profit too.

Universal Healthcare extends that concept to everyone. All taxpayers contribute, spreading the risk and cost as widely as possible. The pot is bigger than any insurance company's, and everyone is covered, on the basis of need. No having to pay twice, first for your own cover, and then in taxes for those unable to pay. No recovery costs for bad payers as there are no bills! No profits taken out of the pot to reduce the amount available for care. It's oversimplified, but what have I missed that is innately wrong?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you buy insurance you are essentially trying to minimise the cost of your potential medical expenses by spreading the cost and the risk among all the other policyholders. You pay into a central pot, and hope that you will never actually need to draw on it. The potholders gamble that however much is paid in will cover the amount paid out. They also take a percentage for their time and expenses, and a bit of profit too.

Universal Healthcare extends that concept to everyone. All taxpayers contribute, spreading the risk and cost as widely as possible. The pot is bigger than any insurance company's, and everyone is covered, on the basis of need. No having to pay twice, first for your own cover, and then in taxes for those unable to pay. No recovery costs for bad payers as there are no bills! No profits taken out of the pot to reduce the amount available for care. It's oversimplified, but what have I missed that is innately wrong?

That is a bit over simplified, but not totally. A large group of people buying say, hospitalization insurance from the company they work for, in my case, a hospital, pay a premium every pay period (2 weeks) for insurance coverage. With the type my children and I have, in addition to the premium, ($166) we have a "co-pay" for every service we use. Dr visit = $30, Medication - generic = $15, Brand = $30, non-formulary = $45. Everyone pays the co-pay. Dependent on whether or not you have a surgery or hospital stay, you may or may not use more costly services, which have a discount for members of the plan, then you pay the co-pay of what percentage the insurance doesn't pick up.

As for the Universal Healthcare, I've no clue. I know the guy I dated in Scotland didn't have to pay for meds or Dr bills unless he went to someone practicing privately. He had a problem with a rotten tooth, and couldn't get in to one of the 2 (in Glasgow) dentists that accepted those patients, for a year. He had to see a specialist about a foot problem, and ended up paying extra, because no one else could get him in for about as long.

You called it Don. The US already has universal care to a certain extent because people can't be refused emergency treatment, but they aren't required to pay into the pot. So people like me wind up paying more in insurance premiums to make up for it. My HMO coverage is pretty cheap, but it also isn't very comprehensive.

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