cyber_one1
OSNN Newbie
- Joined
- 28 Mar 2006
- Messages
- 2
Allegations of a scam to register overseas nurses to practice in the UK were referred to the Serious Fraud Office yesterday after a nine-month inquiry by the profession's regulator.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council said 83 nurses from India and various African countries were placed on the register without undergoing the required training in British nursing procedures.
It said they were on the books of a nursing agency which gave assurances that it had put them through full-time supervised courses, but had in fact provided them with no more than part-time familiarisation visits.
The NMC said the alleged scam was discovered when a chief nurse at a north-west London NHS trust discovered that overseas nurses were present in the hospital without an official reason for being there.
The council said the 83 nurses were innocent victims of the scam. They did not complete the required period of supervised practice and would be removed from the register within 14 days. Some may be readmitted to the register quickly, but others may require lengthy retraining.
Four nurses employed by the agency were being investigated under the council's fitness to practice procedures. The council submitted a report to the SFO, but chose not to name to name the agency. http://www.nursingagencykit.com
today’s market place nursing shortage is just beginning and there doesn’t appear to be a quick fix in the near future. Much of the nursing workforce is coming up on retirement time, which is only going to compound the lack of skilled nurses to deal with the oncoming baby-boomers. Nurses today are finally starting to realize that it is not necessary to be an employee of someone else. There are so many opportunities out there and the doors are starting to open, so now is the time. More and more nurses are marketing themselves and cutting out the middleman. As an independent Nurse Contractor they will enjoy the freedom to choose what type of facility to work in, when to work, how long and how much she will make.