Tag Archives: Medical Recruitment

Our Student Nurses – easy targets for the Government?

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Student Nurses to strike

Student Nurses to strike

Student nurses are threatening to take industrial action in protest at Government moves to cut their pay.

The student nurses’ pay is to be cut and eventually phased out. Students currently get 80% of the minimum rate staff nurse salary during a nine-month placement in hospitals.

Under the pay cut plan, student nurses would see their pay fall cumulatively by 65% up to 2014 and be paid no salary at all from 2015, according to their union, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO)

The INMO said 6,000 student midwives and nurses in training will hold a lunchtime protest in 13 hospitals across the country on February 9.

This will be followed by a march and rally in Dublin on February 16.

The five main political parties are to be lobbied for their views on the planned student pay cuts. Nursing students are also to be balloted on industrial action up to and including strike action.

The INMO said it viewed the pay cut plan as an imposition of ‘slave labour.’

It’s goodbye to our Health Minister

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Mary Harney out

Mary Harney out

According to IrishHealth.com, Mary Harney has brought to an end nearly six-and-a half-years as Health Minister with the announcement of her resignation from the Cabinet.

She offered her resignation to the Taoiseach, which has been accepted, and has announced she will not be standing in the forthcoming general election. It had been speculated for some time that she would not run in the election.

Ms Harney said she offered her resignation to Brian Cowen last week but was told to hold off on making the announcement.

Mary Harney was appointed Health Minister in September 2004. She was previously Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment.

A former Tanaiste, Mary Harney has witnessed the demise of the party she helped found – The Progressive Democrats- while serving as Health Minister.

She is the second longest holder of the health portfolio in the history of the State, but her critics will say that after more than six years, she should have achieved more.

While she has had some limited successes as Minister – the Fair Deal nursing home funding scheme; providing for better regulation of doctors and other health professionals; reducing drug costs to some extent and bringing in doctor visit medical cards, on the big healthcare issues she has essentially failed to deliver.

Early on in her ministry she promised to resolve the ongoing A&E crisis. Years later, emergency department trolley numbers have reached record levels and the Minister continued to offer little in the way of concrete solutions to the ongoing hospital capacity crisis.

The Minister told the Dail last week: “we must become less focused on beds and more focused on activity.”

Despite her exhortation, the rest of the country was extremely focused on beds, and the lack of them. Patients were becoming less focused on beds as more and more of them got used to waiting on trolleys.

As Minister, Mary Harney presided over considerable bed reductions, which took place long before an alternative system aimed at reducing reliance on hospital beds was put in place.

Mary Harney’s plan to increase capacity in the system by decanting private beds from public hospitals into co-located private units failed. Nearly six years after she announced co-location as a quick solution to hospital capacity problems, not one co-located hospital or bed has opened.

The cancer services reorganisation is regarded as a success on Ms Harney’s watch, but much of this success was down to Prof Tom Keane. In any case, the report proposing cancer service reorganisation had lain on a shelf for years and was only activated after a number of breast cancer misdiagnosis scandals emerged during the Harney era.

Other more negative aspects of Ms Harney’s Ministry that will be rembered include:

* Failure to reform the HSE, a structure she effectively inherited from her predecessor, Micheal Martin, but whose establishment was very much in line with her reform-minded PD policy.

* Early in her ministry, the fall-out from the scandal over illegal overcharging by health authorities of public nursing home patients for many years.

* The attempt to take medical cards off thousands of over 70s.

*Frequent expressions of regret over the latest hospital care or misdiagnosis scandal and claims that hospital safety would improve despite her efforts , Mary Harney failed to convince the public that she was making healthcare provision safer.

* ‘Taxing the poor’, by introducing prescription charges. Ireland must be one of the few developed countries where those on the very lowest incomes are charged for treatment,albeit at a low rate.

* Her recent clash with Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly, with the Minister insisting that the State was not legally obliged to provide public long-stay care for the elderly.

*Her failure to effectively tackle waiting list numbers, despite the NTPF, and in particular waiting times for outpatient appointments.

*Controversy over her expenditure on business trips abroad as Health Minsiter and in her previous ministry, not to mention her lengthy stay in New Zealand as the Tallaght x-ray crisis unfolded.

So is it goodbye and good riddance or just farewell?

New year – New Convertible? – be careful

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Convertible - bad for Health?

Convertible - bad for Health?

If you find yourself at the start of 2011 jealous of that neighbour with the shiny new Convertible – Don’t be!

According to Irishhealth.com, a new study has found that driving a convertible with the top down can put the driver at an increased risk of hearing damage.

US Researchers have found that driving in excess of 55 miles per hour put the drivers at an increased risk of noise induced hearing loss.

The study was carried out using five different makes and models of cars.

Sound level measurements in 80% of the cars at 88.5 km per hour with the top down had maximum sound recordings greater than 85 decibels. Exposure of noise above 85 decibels for prolonged periods is not recommended and the higher the noise level, the shorter the recommended exposure time.

At 120.7 km per hour (75 mph) the average noise exposure inflicted on the driver of a convertible car driven with the top down was 89.9 decibels. Furthermore, not only was the average noise exposure excessive with the top open, but the driver was also exposed to extreme noise ‘spikes’ while driving on a motorway, for example, when driving next to a motorcycle or lorry.

The study was undertaken using a sound level meter operated by a passenger in each car tested. The passenger took a series of between eight and ten sound level measurements at various points in the journey from the position of the driver’s left ear, at various speeds. During all data collection, the car radio was turned off, there was no conversation between occupants, air conditioning was turned off, the car horn was not used and there was no rain or other inclement weather.

The researchers noted that drivers of convertible cars may also be exposed to additional noise when listening to the car radio. Even for comfortable listening, the radio volume levels required while driving under the conditions assessed in this study are likely to add significantly to the noise exposure level.

However, the study did note that no excessive noise levels were recorded from any tested car driven with the top closed, meaning there is no more than minimal risk of excessive noise exposure when driving with the convertible top closed.

“When the convertible automobiles were driven with the top open, high levels of noise were consistently recorded. Although driving for short distances under such levels of noise exposure is unlikely to cause a significant degree of noise-induced hearing loss, our study demonstrates that long duration driving at high speeds with the convertible top open will increase the driver’s risk of hearing damage.

“In light of the results of this study, we are recommending that drivers be advised to drive with the top closed when travelling for extended periods of time at speeds exceeding 85 km per hour,” said lead researcher, Dr AA Mikulec, of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Details of these findings are published in The Journal of Laryngology and Otology

So, if you are planning a new job and a new car for the new year – don’t get a Convertible!

To look beautiful – go to sleep!

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Sleep is the key to beauty!

Sleep is the key to beauty!

To look beautiful – go to sleep!

If you want to look attractive and healthy, the best thing you can do is get a good night’s sleep, the results of a new study indicate.

According to Swedish researchers, their findings mean that for the first time, there is scientific backing for the concept of beauty sleep.

They investigated the relationship between sleep and perceptions of attractiveness and health. They insisted that such research is important in today’s 24-hour society, particularly as the number of people suffering from sleep disorders and disturbed sleep is on the rise.

The study involved 23 people aged between 18 and 31. Each person was photographed between 2pm and 3pm on two occasions, once after normal sleep and once after being deprived of sleep.

Smokers were excluded from the research and no alcohol was allowed for two days prior to the experiment.

The photographs were taken in a well lit room and the distance to the camera was fixed. During both photography sessions, participants wore no make-up, had their hair loose (combed back if they had long hair) and underwent similar cleaning or shaving procedures.

They were asked to have a relaxed, neutral facial expression for both photos.

Sixty-five observers, who were blinded to the sleep status of the participants, rated the photographs for attractiveness and whether the individuals looked healthy/unhealthy or tired/not tired.

According to the researchers from the Karolinska Institute, the observers judged the faces of sleep deprived participants as less healthy, less attractive and more tired.

The team concluded that the facial signals of sleep deprived people affect facial appearance and judgments of attractiveness, health and tiredness.

Details of these findings are published in the British Medical Journal

In summary – who needs to go to the expense of face lifts, Botox or facial Therapy when all you have to do is go to sleep?!

This is also important information for all those Job Seekers out there who are attending interviews – it has been noted the difference between a job seeker turning up for an interview tired and those who get a good nights sleep before their interview.

Jackie Brown Medical are hiring!

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Medical Recruiter wanted

Medical Recruiter wanted

Here at Jackie Brown Medical, we are hiring!

Our team is expanding and we are seeking an experienced Science/Medical Recruitment Consultant.

We have very high standards throughout our Recruitment process and an Award winning reputation we are proud of.

Our Staff are our key to our success.

If you want to be part of the Award winning Jackie Brown Medical Recruitment Team -

 

What we are looking for -

  1. A Medical or Science Recruiter
  2. Living in South Dublin or Wicklow
  3. 2-3 year Medical Recruitment experience
  4. A proven Recruitment Sales track record
  5. A Recruiter who is a strong Candidate advocate
  6. A Business Developer
  7. Someone who is passionate about Recruitment
  8. Aware of NRF guidelines
  9. Target driven
  10. A professional

If you have what we are looking for and wish to apply, please send your CV to -

jackie@jackiebrownmedical.ie

Our National Recruitment Federation

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National Recruitment Federation Logo

National Recruitment Federation Logo

It has come to our attention in recent times that not enough Candidates (Job seekers) or Clients (Companies recruiting) are aware of the National Recruitment Federation (NRF) in Ireland

The NRF is our only governing body for Recruitment in Ireland.

They are there purely to assist in all matters concerning Recruitment.

Many of our Recruitment Agencies are aware or indeed members of the NRF, but they are also there to support and guide Candidates and Clients recruiting.

If you are a Candidate looking for a new job or a Company hiring, make sure your Recruitment Agency of choice is a member of the NRF as this will automatically give you reassurance they are of a high standard

Check on their website for the above Logo.

They provide support and guidance to everyone in Ireland or abroad wishing to come to Ireland who are seeking a job or Companies wishing to recruit.

They are also the only Recruitment body who reward the Recruitment Industry with an Awards ceremony – ensuring standards are being maintained and encouraging them to be examined and improved annually.

They now run a course for Recruitment Consultants which is a breath of fresh air as there has never been a Recruitment course or qualification before in Ireland

 

They guide the Recruitment Agencies with a Code of Conduct.

The Employment Agency Act, 1971 provides that any person carrying on the business of an employment agency must obtain a licence to do so from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Persons seeking employment through an employment agency should ensure that they deal only with licensed agencies

No fee may be charged by an agency to a job seeker solely for agreeing to seek employment for them.

All NRF Members are required to be licensed as a condition of membership.

All too often we have heard of Candidates being bullied (pressured in to jobs)or CV’s being submitted directly to Companies without the expressed informed consent of the Candidate prior to this.

This is where the NRF come in to play – anyone who has fallen victim to this may make a complaint with the NRF who will then investigate on the Candidates behalf.

Client Companies again, any pressure, efforts to charge without prior agreement etc can be taken to the NRF who will guide and investigate

If you are hiring or looking for a job, know your rights and become familiar with our NRF -

www.nrf.ie

It only exists for our benefit to ensure the highest standards within Recruitment in Ireland are being met

Do you really want to put your career and future in to the hands on anyone less then the best?

Pregnant women advised to get Flu Vaccine

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Pregnant women and flu vaccine

Pregnant women and flu vaccine

Pregnant women, those with underlying medical conditions and the over 65′s were advised strongly yesterday to avail of the HSE’s seasonal Flu vaccine this year.

Among the ‘at risk’ group were children, particularly those in school or after school groups, adults with long term chronic illnesses eg asthma or Cardiac problems, Carers and Healthcare Staff.

Healthy pregnant women and those up to 6 weeks after giving birth who have not received the Swine Flu vaccination are among those advised to get the vaccine as they are at higher risk of complications from Swine Flu.

The HSE says ‘the flu virus changes every year and this is why a new flu vaccine has to be given annually.

Based on advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) this year the seasonal flu vaccine contains 3 common flu virus strains, including the pandemic H1N1 – Swine Flu strain which is still circulating and is expected to be the most common strain this year.

Unlike last year, the Swine Flu vaccine is now included in the Seasonal Flu vaccine meaning only one Flu Vaccination is required this year.

This year’s Flu Vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy.

Dublin Dental Hospital getting tough!

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Dublin Dental Hospital

Dublin Dental Hospital

The Dublin Dental Hospital are clamping down on patients who do not turn up for their appointments.

Thousands of patients failed to attend last year without notifying the Hospital.

Over 23,000 failed to attend in the last 3 years.

This leaves a Dental Nurse and Dental Student with nothing to do and instruments which have been cleaned and prepared need to be re-sterilized.

 

From September 1st 2010, they are introducing a charge of €30 per appointment if a patient fails to show without prior notification.

So, be careful, if you have an appointment with the Dublin Dental Hospital – keep it – if you can’t – let them know or expect a €30 invoice