People continue to leave the nursing profession, but the picture is not as bad as it seems because of the very good team spirit that exists said the management of the Public Health and Social Services Department (PH&SSD).

Ivy Ellick, Chief Administrative Health and Social Services Officer acknowledges that staff attrition is a problem in her department, but says that there are still a lot of nurses who continue to serve the Island. "The majority of staff give 110 per cent" she said and added: "For example, staff are known to have worked all night and still made themselves available for emergency call during the following day."

Currently there are just over 100 nurses and nursing assistants in post, many who started in training, and progressed up the ladder of success into responsible posts.

Maureen Coutts is the department’s Senior Nursing Officer and heads the nursing service. Her regular meetings with heads of sections have revealed that in general staff are happy. "I feel that the majority of the nurses are committed and dedicated," said Maureen.

Rosemary Mittens, Nursing Officer (General Hospital) has close contact with all nursing staff in the general hospital and feels that nurses are happy in their jobs. These views are supported by a training and development questionnaire issued by the Department earlier this year. About 80 per cent of nurses indicated that they are happy in their current field of nursing. "This represents a fair number of people but obviously it is impossible to please everybody" said Ivy.

The PH&SSD and Personnel share the view that nurses would not be in the profession if they did not enjoy the work.

The Chief Personnel Officer, Barbara George, and the Assistant Secretary (Personnel), Mandy Peters, recently undertook a review of the nursing service. Mandy Peters said: "Many of them feel that they make a difference to people’s lives and that is why they have stayed in the job." Mandy explained that many nurses were not in their jobs just for the pay because to them the pay was not equal to the demands of the job. She said: "It has to be appreciated, that many of the nurses feel the stress and pressure of staff shortages, particularly during busy times."

Whilst, since 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 seven nurses left the department to take up employment elsewhere on Island, 17 left for offshore employment something that has been on going for many years.

Jean Gough, Employment Benefits and Administration Officer said that over the last few years when the department was an employment agency, the majority of UK vacancies channelled through her were for domestic work and nursing assistants. This made those in the nursing profession ideal candidates as they had already gained a wealth of experience from the department. "There were some who were getting the opportunities, not through us, but through those who had already gone into nursing homes," said Jean.

Barbara George, Chief Personnel Officer said that staff attrition is not just a serious situation for nurses. She feels that many people notice nurse shortages as they are playing a vital role on the Island in the provision of a front line service.

The PH&SSD is still very keen to attract new staff and stresses that whilst there may have been some negative comments about working within Public Health, nursing is a "very challenging and rewarding career." These were the words shared by the department’s managers many of whom have practised nursing for many years before moving into managerial roles and are still practising nursing to date. They did however emphasise that the profession is very demanding and requires long hours and a lot of commitment.

The managers say that there will be difficult days and there could be more resignations from staff who move into this field and find that it is not the job for them, but for those who enjoy their jobs – the rewards are great. Rosemary Mittens said that as a nurse: "you have people’s lives in your hands." As a practising midwife she said: "I feel really overwhelmed when I bring someone into the world," and these are the type of joys shared by other nurses.

Whilst nurses are leaving for offshore employment, several have returned to the department as opposed to working elsewhere on the Island. "This is most encouraging for the department and it is a clear indication that these people must have enjoyed the work" said Ivy.

SHG acknowledges the fact that money is not the only reason why people are leaving so it continues to address terms and conditions of service.

As a result of the recent review undertaken by Personnel Department Mandy said that from this "it was clear that staff do not just leave for better wages and there were some areas which could be addressed and improved, including terms and conditions of service." As a result of the review, 40 unestablished nursing assistants were offered the chance to become established. "This would mean that their terms and conditions would improve in addition to receiving a better salary," said Mandy, "More training opportunities would be available to them and there would be a chance to progress through the nursing service to higher level positions in the long-term as well as receiving better pension entitlements."

She added: "31 chose to become established and this would indicate that the majority of the nursing service has chosen to stay within the service long-term and view the terms and conditions offered to them as better than they previously enjoyed."

Rosemary said that nurses were happy with the pay increase and retention bonus. She said that there are times when staff have said that they would prefer to receive more money instead of time of in lieu for the overtime they put in.

Staff have development and training needs and these are being taken into account by the department, although in a place such as the hospital it can be difficult to expose trainees to certain aspects of nursing such as theatre work as, in addition to being committed to staff development, the department has patients to care for and they have to be given the highest priority.

The nursing assistants have already started a training programme which will put them in a good position to apply for higher posts. "The feedback I am getting is that the nursing assistants are really enjoying the training and they are learning," said Rosemary.

Commenting on the day to day running of the department, Ivy Ellick said: "Working in the PH&SSD means providing frontline services to the public. Each day the department is faced with some sort of challenge. However, I am pleased to say that these challenges are faced with calmness and confidence."

2 April 2003