Nursing Standard

01/10/2025

Datix abuse: the safety issues ignored or minimised by managers

Get advice on how to use incident reporting systems effectively, including establishing what is and is not appropriate to report, and recognising Datix is not about apportioning blame.

Nurses say their Datix reports are often ignored or downgraded, even – or sometimes especially – when reporting safe staffing or safeguarding issues. This is demoralising, they say, and experts warn it can also discourage healthcare staff from raising serious patient safety concerns, for fear of...

30/09/2025

Bullied at work: how abuse and toxic culture changed my career

Nurses who have been bullied at work share accounts of racism, autocratic managers, and uncaring employers.

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Nurses who have faced workplace bullying and harassment recall their experiences. They describe poor management, racist attitudes, autocratic leadership and gaslighting, and the effect it has had on their work, personal lives and careers. Their accounts illustrate how traumatic it can be for a nurse...

30/09/2025

Coroner warns NHS trust after mix-up over patient identity

Patient, who later died, received delayed diagnosis after identification mix-up led to scanning error. A hospital investigation focused wrongly on nurses not medics.

Wrong patient was taken for CT scan but investigation by York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust focused on nurses’ involvement and did not seek to identify and question medical team members who had been in charge of escorting the patient to radiology, says report. Coroner see...

29/09/2025

To remain on the NMC register, all nurses are required to complete 35 hours of CPD relevant to their scope of practice over a three-year period.

This averages out at just one hour per month.

But is this enough for nurses’ career development?

Continuing professional development (CPD) is vital for nurses to maintain skills, ensure safe practice and meet Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) revalidation requirements. But CPD is about more than revalidation, and research shows that having long gaps between CPD activities makes it difficult t...

29/09/2025

29/09/2025

A large hospital trust has been downgraded by the health watchdog after staff told inspectors they ‘were not listened to’ by managers when they raised complaints about racism, bullying and harassment.

Inspectors also found the nursing leadership team at the trust was ‘fragmented’.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been downgraded by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) due to staff concerns about racism, bullying, and being ignored by leaders. CQC inspectors found ‘fragmented’ nursing leadership, leadership gaps and poor accountability. Despite some praise, the trust’...

28/09/2025

Have you heard of helpline nursing?

Find out more about the role, and what skills and experience you need.

Helpline nursing may not involve direct patient care, but upholds the Nursing and Midwifery Council code by providing compassionate support, helping people navigate complex healthcare systems and clarifying confusing information about treatment options. A former NHS nurse and midwife who works as a....

27/09/2025

Redundancy: how will it affect your NHS pension?

Facing redundancy can be unsettling, and for NHS staff it comes with critical pension considerations.

Find out more about your options and how the process works.

Facing redundancy can be disconcerting, and for NHS nursing staff it comes with critical pension considerations. If you are an active member in the NHS Pension Scheme on the date of redundancy, you may be able to claim your pension early on redundancy grounds. Here, NHS pension specialist Graham Cro...

26/09/2025

Nursing test centre fraud: findings and fallout two years on

After fraud ‘on an industrial-scale’ was suspected at a nursing test centre in Nigeria, we examine how the NMC handled it and what happened to the nurses involved.

Nearly 2,000 internationally educated nurses who were either on the UK’s nursing register or had applied to join it were caught up in an investigation following suspected fraud at a test centre in Nigeria. Data analysis by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) suggested that computer-based tests...

26/09/2025

A critical care nurse waiting for a double organ transplant says she spends every night waiting and hoping for the life-saving call.

The staff nurse faces spending the rest of her life requiring dialysis if a kidney and pancreas match cannot be found.

Critical care nurse Joanne Blackburn has been on the organ transplant register for two years. She needs kidney and pancreas matches, without which she will require dialysis for the rest of her life. She has worked in the critical care unit of Royal Stoke University Hospital for the past 18 year and....

25/09/2025

A nurse of more than 40 years has been struck off for ‘serious’ and ‘repeated’ failures at two care homes, including poor record-keeping and a lack of patient observations following falls.

Nurse of more than 40 years Jayne Palfrey was struck off by a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practise (FtP) panel for care failures at Cwm Celyn Nursing Home and Glaslyn Court Nursing Home, both in Wales. Of the 16 charges against her, 12 were found proved, including: leaving a medic...

24/09/2025

How can children’s nurses enhance uptake of the MMR vaccine?

This article discusses the signs and symptoms of measles infection and it’s management, including the public health measures required.

Understanding measles infection and how to improve uptake of the MMR vaccine