Forum views from nursingtimes.net on careers in care homes

There has been hot debate on the Nursing in Care Homes internet forum about whether care homes are a good place for nurses to start their career

Here is a taster:
One visitor said: 'I worked in a nursing home with a newly qualified registered nurse. She was very flaky to begin with, asking senior staff a lot of questions and needing a lot of support. She was routinely left in charge of shifts, and was often the only registered nurse on duty. I wonder whether care home matrons/head nurses would take that risk now?'
Another said: 'I worked in a nursing home before starting my training, returned there once qualified and loved every minute. I felt my time there allowed me to get used to very large drug rounds – others in the hospital setting were saying they would like to have done that but they were too busy.
'It allowed me to get used to speaking to community care personnel, gain experience in dealing with relatives, and taught me things about the confused patient that have stayed with me to this day.
'Even on an organisational level it gave me experience of dealing with staff and how to utilise people more efficiently.'
Elsewhere on the forum, a nursing student gave this view: 'I have completed a work placement at a residential home. To me, there seems to be a lack of staff. Service users are taken for granted and not treated individually, which is really disappointing. There should be more qualified staff to care and assist service users.'
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