mmsparkle

Hi Emma, sorry I came to this too late to help. How did it go?

Oh I know, I was dreading bringing her back in a hypoxic brain damaged condition. For the best really. Thanks all. We will try to organise meals for her family for the next couple of days.

Thanks Horseshoe. I really hope so. It was just so futile and undignified, especially as we had to leave her body on the floor until the police arrived. I am choosing to believe that by coming to ask me for help, the neighbour was effectively consenting to CPR. He didn't object... It is a sad day in our road.

Not sure where I'm going with this thread. CPR was inevitably unsuccessful, the lady had had a huge GI bleed. I stayed with husband until ambulance crew had delivered bad news and there was no more I could do. It feels unfinished, compared to the debrief one would get in hospital. Anyone else been in this situation?

The interview system relies solely on points, given depending on your answers and if they meet the pre-selected criteria. As an interviewer, it can be very frustrating when an excellent nurse fails to perform as well at interview as a mediocre nurse; as there is very little scope to exercise judgement. Hours are not always a problem as potentially 2 part timers could share one f/t job. However interviewers are often aware that if not all the available hours are used, the funding can be withdrawn.. I would advise however working in other areas / other ICUs to gain a broader experience.

I guess it depends on the prescription, your local policies, and what type of insulin it was - long or short-acting. You can complete the Datix yourself with the information you have been given by her.

Yes - we are looking to Portugal and Phillipines currently to fill critical care posts.

I am a nurse, and have recently come to Christianity. In response to a question further up, I tend to keep it quiet (I'd hate to attempt to evangelise with the wrong person!) but am just beginning to get braver, and to proclaim my faith amongst co-workers.

Oh yes, and one last one: If you were successful, what further support and development would you require from us?

In case it may be of help to others, some of the questions I was asked were: Tell us a bit about yourself, and why you are applying for this post. Describe an emergency situation you were involved in, and how you reacted. Describe a situation where you made a change to improve patient safety. How would your co-workers describe you? What would you do if two of your team members were in conflict? And if you were unable to defuse the conflict? What would you do in this situation? A patient needs to be transferred to our sister hospital (e.g. non-clinical transfer). The relatives are extremely unhappy about this. How would you support your team on the busiest of days, when 2 staff have called in sick, and morale is low? Many thanks for the support of all on this thread. Hope the above helps someone!

Thank you. I'm about to get ready. Phew! I have researched the Francis report (or at least the exec summary!). I appreciate the encouragement.

Hi XB9S, I have read through this entire thread, and seen your helpful and informative posts throughout. Thank you. I am applying for a band 7 post in Critical Care, and have been offered an interview. I have a few questions: On the nhs jobs website job information, it says there will only be one person on the interview panel - is this normal? I don't have to give a presentation, but I don't know how long the interview will be. I understand that I should revise change management theories, leadership styles, clinical governance, Govt policies i.e. Francis report, Trust vision statement. Can you recommend any further reading? I am concerned that my main weakness is in the lack of formal leadership - I'm applying from a critical care outreach background, and have only had 6 months as an ICU sister. Can you suggest any way to combat this weakness?! I'd really appreciate any advice you can give. Many thanks in advance M

Great question - I also have a band 7 interview coming up, so all your answers are really helpful.

I would agree with Dorimar. Our 'outreach' visits (proactive) are more of a priority than our 'MEWS' visits.

This sounds like the job I have at the moment - called Critical Care Outreach. In England, Outreach teams have been running, mainly 24/7, for some years - my hospital is somewhat behind the times. I'm a Band 6 Outreach Sister, with 7 years ICU experience. My team consists of 3 other Sisters and a specialist physiotherapist. We work independently of the ICU. We see each patient discharged from ICU or HDU to the wards, usually for 3 daily visits. We also carry bleeps and see any patient who scores above a certain level on Modified Early Warning Scores - from the vital signs monitoring. We include plenty of informal teaching and mentoring for nurses, doctors, students etc on the wards, but also set up formal teaching packages (for the wards and ICU). We also teach on the ALERT course, and one of our team is an Advanced Life Support Instructor. One of our most successful packages was on Sepsis, for the staff on the Medical Assessment Unit. Every day is different, usually busy. In quiet moments there are always more educational packages to create / update, audits to complete, or we can go to the intensive care unit to offer our services - not to take a patient but maybe to assist with meal breaks, turns, etc. It's a fantastic job, with variety and a lot of patient care. Can be frustrating at times when you can see that the best care isn't being given, usually due to staff shortages or incredibly busy wards - but then sometimes that's when we can make the most difference. TulsaTime, hope this helps and the best of luck with your new position. You can find more information by searching for Critical Care Outreach, or check out the National Outreach Forum (NORF). Every NHS Trust will run their outreach slightly differently.