Developing your career as a carer to becoming a nurse has always been a challenge to those who need to earn a living in supporting themselves and their families. Nurses require a degree in order to register for practice, however going to university to achieve this is not for everyone. Fortunately, here at Bristol Care Homes, we have implemented a pathway that supports employed care staff to develop into nursing professionals whilst maintaining their employment and earning while they learn.
About us
We have 4 high-quality care homes in north Bristol and South Gloucestershire. We pride ourselves on the quality of care we provide, and the investment we put into the development of our staff team.
From care to nurse pathway
Our latest investment has come in the form of a pathway to support care staff to attend the University of the West of England and qualify as a Nurse Associate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council describe the Nurse Associate role as “a member of the nursing team in England that helps bridge the gap between health and care assistants and registered nurses. Nursing associates work with people of all ages, in a variety of settings in health and social care. The role contributes to the core work of nursing, freeing up registered nurses to focus on more complex clinical care. It’s a stand-alone role that also provides a progression route into graduate-level nursing.”
Our newly graduated nurses
Here at Bristol Care Homes, we 4 members of the team who have followed this pathway so far. Elena from Glebe House in Almondsbury, Sarah from Quarry House in Fishponds, and Shahira from Field House in Horfield have all recently successfully earned their Nurse Associate foundation degrees from the prestigious UWE University. Jemma from Beech House in Thornbury is currently still on the course and is due to qualify in the next few months.
Elena, Sarah, and Shahira have all decided to progress with further support from their employer onto a top-up course with UWE which will see them achieve their full Nursing Degrees and become Registered Nurses. Jemma will do the same once she has completed her Nurse Associate studies.
Caring about our staff
“Here at Bristol Care Homes, we care about our staff just as much as we care about our residents. This is the reason why, amongst many other benefits, we offer great career pathways to anyone who is looking to develop and grow professionally.”, says Richard Crocker, CEO of Bristol Care Homes.
He continues “It is important for us that we can identify talent within our organisation and support them all to achieve their maximum potential. As part of this latest investment, we decided to fully support our Nurse Associates to attend university once a week for study, attend their required placements and achieve the required off-the-job hours within their overall contracted hours all whilst paying them their full salary. This support continues for them as they progress onto the Nursing degree. We are very proud of the achievements of this dedicated group, and we look forward to supporting many more of our team through the same route in the future.”
Committed to providing excellence
Bristol Care Homes is committed to providing excellent lifetime care to residents and great career opportunities to staff. Two of its homes have CQC ‘Outstanding’ rating, whilst its resident fees remain extremely competitive and good value. The career development pathways ensure that people who join or work in the company strive to provide that excellent standard of care to residents while also growing professionally within the company.
Staff benefits
Other staff benefits expected when joining the Bristol Care Homes teams are:
- Up to £250 welcome bonus
- Up to £250 refer a friend bonus
- Great rates of pay
- 10% enhancement salary rate on hours worked on weekends
- Time and a half at Bank Holidays
- Profit share bonus scheme
- Excellent induction programme
- Excellent training and development opportunities
- Valuable career development pathways
- A wide range of holiday, retail and leisure discounts
- Employee assistance programme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Free meal when working +8 hours shifts.
If you are keen to work for an employer who invests in staff support and development such as this please click here to see our latest job opportunities.
