Hospitals Lure Former Nurses Back To Work

There was a time when nursing was just a phase girls went through between leaving school and finding a husband.

After years of training to qualify as nurses or midwives, their ambitions would turn to snaring a dashing doctor who would rescue them from the wards and a future as a frustrated matron.

Nationally, about nine per cent of nurses leave the NHS every year, according to a survey by the Royal College of Nursing. But with a national shortage of nurses, hospitals are desperate to attract them back.

Northwick Park and St Mark's hospitals in Watford Road, Harrow, are preparing to become the first in the country to offer courses tailored to the individual needs of former nurses and midwifes returning to the profession.

The hospitals are 200 nurses short of the 1,200 they should have, and admit it is a serious problem.

The courses will be provided in-house by Thames Valley University in collaboration with the Central Middlesex Hospital in Park Royal and St Mary's in Paddington. They will also offer nurses and midwives the opportunity to develop specialist skills such as surgery, medicine and orthopaedics.

Northwick Park offers nurses returning to the profession the chance to work when they like, with shifts which fit in with their children's schooling. Midwife Alison Parsons is one of those it has already tempted to return.

The 37-year-old qualified as a nurse in Brighton in 1982 and trained as a midwife at Northwick Park. She left nursing to have a family and was out of the profession for 11 years.

"It was always on my plan that once the children were old enough I would come back to nursing," said Alison. "I was pleased to be back because I got out of the house and got back to normal people. I got back my social life back and a chance to talk to people other than mothers."

She now works in the maternity ward from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, and has found that having a family has given her skills and experience which are invaluable for her job.

"Coming back after having children meant I knew what the mothers were going through," she said. "A mother is always pleased to know that you have gone through what they are going though and they relate to you and you relate to them."

One of the major disincentives to returning to work is fear of changes in the time a nurse has been away.

"The basic care is the same, but other things have changed and that can be frightening," said Alison.

She returned as an auxiliary nurse to refresh her skills as she could not afford the cost and time of a refresher course to take her straight back to general nursing. When she later did a return to midwifery course it cost £400 and included three months' voluntary work at Northwick Park.

Recognising that the cost of the courses was a major obstacle, Northwick Park now pays fees and is preparing its own tailor-made courses.

Another major barrier is child care. Northwick Park provides a creche for the children of staff, but it is open only during the day so is unsuitable for nurses on early or late shifts, a problem Northwick Park said it was looking into.

Although most nurses and midwives leave the job to have children, there are also those who become disillusioned with the job soon after qualifying.

Staff nurse Sarah Eady qualified in 1987 and worked for two years before becoming disillusioned and leaving the profession. During the next eight years she travelled, worked in recruitment, sales and as a self-employed complementary therapist, and had two children.

"Then I felt I was ready to come back to nursing because I felt all the compassion I had used up the first time had been refilled," said Sarah.

"Returning to work meant I had an indentity other than being a mother and I love how grateful the patients are. I appreciate that more because children can be incredibly selfish."

Sarah was surprised how easy it was to return and pleased at the changes in the job. She has an au pair so she can do shift work two or three times a week.

"I felt quite confident about being back because I found not that much has changed in the actual care we provided," said Sarah. "I found the job now has more flexibility, the professional development has improved and everything is less hierarchical."

Northwick Park operates a staff-bank to employ its own nurses. It lets the staff know in advance which ward they will work on and tries to place them in the same area as often as possible.

Hospital spokesman Brian Goodison said: "We now appreciate that a job has to balance your professional life with your personal life."

An open day to encourage nurses back to work will be held in the Himsworth Hall of the hospital's medical education centre from 10am to 6pm on Wednesday, May 20. It will provide a one-to-one advisory service to assess what refresher training will be needed and to look at the individual's personal circumstances.

For further details about the open day, call Caroline on 0181 869 2192, Ann on 0181 869 2176 or Artis on 0181 869 2187.

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