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Retaining Dental Nurses during the dental nursing crisis

2 min read

It’s no secret that there seems to be a lack of dental nurses at present, as we find ourselves in the midst of a recruitment crisis in the UK. But, what we can do to fix it?

According to Dentistry Magazine, Dentistry is among the UK’s top 10 most popular courses, and in the last 14 years we have seen a 20% increase in applicants. In 2020 the number of applicants via UCAS rose to 100,240 – up from 95,835 in 2019! But even with this increase in applicants, there still seems to be a shortage of dental nurses to recruit.

Of course, it isn’t just the recruitment side of things that is proving to be a problem; retaining staff is just as much an issue here. We have had a look at some of the ways we may be able to help you retain staff:

On this page

    Progression

    It is so important to sit down with staff and discuss career progression. Are they happy with where they are? Do they know where they want to do be in 6 months a years’ time? Are there any courses they want to do to help them progress in their dental nursing career? Can this give them some additional responsibilities that they ay be craving?

    Support

    It’s important to make sure that the team around you feel supported by you; especially as we have been experiencing unprecedented circumstances. Lack of support may lead to feeling stressed and burnt out.

    Salary

    Salary plays a big part in everybody’s work, if we feel that our salary does not reflect the responsibilities that we have this leads to a feeling of disappointment and resentment. If we look at the responsibilities of a dental nurse it is very noticeable exactly how much they do and are responsible for on a daily basis.

    Health & Wellbeing

    The pandemic saw a rapid increase in demand for mental health services. Do you support your staff with their health and wellbeing? There are so many platforms out there for you to signpost team members too so they get the support they need. Not to mention companies that can taken on the health and wellbeing of your team.

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