Back to the Asian countries. I was speaking to a business man from Singapore on my way back from the Philippines, and talked to him about my observations on the long school day for children in Asian countries. He was telling me that in Singapore they are now realsing it is not good for children to do all study and they are looking at ways for children to have a more integrated learning experience. So perhaps we dont do too badly here in good old Godszone. Especially when we are 3rd in OECD for English and 5th for Maths. We must be doing something right.

Another thing to consider too is, it has been discovered that children under 2 years of age, who do not have a single constant caregiver in their life e.g. just one of many in a Day Care Centre where the caregiver changes regularly, have high cortisole levels. While cortisole has other functions, prolonged high levels of this hormone are known to be a factor in Diabetes and heart Disease. Cortisole is essential for blood glucose metabolism, blood pressure regulation, insulin release for blood sugar maintanence plus immune function and inflammatory responses. Could these factors just be the reason there is an increase in Diabetes and Heart Disease world wide?

To me, no-one has to be a rocket scientist to understand that prolonged exposure to stress, producing high cortisole levels, must have an affect on a person through out there life.

Worth considering isnt it.

Have you ever stopped to think why people from Asian countries seem to be able to work longer hours than we do? Well it has become very apparent to me.

I am currently in the Philippines and coming in to work you see all these little children going off to school at 7am in the morning. The same was in India when I was there 3 years ago. Their school day starts at 7-7.30 am and finishes at 5pm!! In New Zealand, and other countries as well, our school day starts at 9am and finishes around 3pm. We are not conditioned to work long hours.

I have long wondered at the capacity for people from other countries to work long hours and seemingly not get tired. If we had had from the age of 5, had a school day that was 9 hours long minimum, our bodies too would be conditioned to withstand such long days.

On top of this, their class size is around 50 student yet we grumble if we have 30 students claiming it is not conducive to good learning. Who is right? I dont know but what I do know is that they value and prize education as a way forward.

Worth pondering on isnt it?

Are we brought up to be too soft? I dont know, but they certainly seem to cope better with longer hours than we do.

Cross Cultural Communication

We all know how difficult it can be communicating with our own culture, so how must it be for those from a completely different culture? Mis-communication happens all the time. It is especially difficult for our older people and those with hearing loss - I know, I have hearing aids. So if you are going to give the best care you can to the vulnerable in our care, you need to look very carefully as to how you talk to people. Are you sure they understand what you are saying or are they just being polite and nodding their head in agreement just to please you? This goes for everyone.

Now because I am used to having to get people to repeat themselves due to my hearing loss, it is not that way for everyone. So as nurses and managers, you need to coach people who have English as a second language to make sure they know what is being asked and to have the confidence to ask for it to be repeated if they don't. It is no good to complain about the work not being done the way you want it to be done, if you dont invest the time in orientating people to how you want it done - and this includes the way the culture of the people being cared for want to be communicated with. My saying for this month is
"If the team do not know the why behind the what, then the how is superfluous"

I am going to keep this theme going around training. I beats me why registered nurses are only interested in getting the number of hours required to keep their practicing certificate. Shouldnt it be about keeping your education hours up to keep you safe? Caregives are like sponges. they want to learn. How come many registered nurses aren't like them.

I was pleased to see your comments about "who owns our education". I pay for 95% of my own training and eduction updates because I need to keep me up to date. I always feel slightly miffed when staff say I'll only go if you pay me to go. Our education is what makes each of us safe and competent as nurses.

Janet McKelvey, McEwan House

As a human resources practitioner, I totally endorse Leigh's article on education. In the course of my work I frequently talk to people who have done nothing in the way of training and education for years because the employer won't pay for it. This is very short-sighted, and is more often the stance of older workers than younger ones. Believe me when I say that the majority of prospective employers across all industries do look to see what training candidates have undertaken. If the training is relevant to the job, it will make the candidate more employable than those who have relied on "picking up" information (and sometimes misinformation and bad practices) on the job. Even education in a subject that is not relevant to the job can be useful as it shows that the person is interested in their personal growth and development and is still capable of learning. As a rule of thumb, employees should aim to add at least one learning experience to their CVs every year.
Jennifer Wyatt Sargent

My newsletter this month had a section on "Who owns your education?" I notice that many RN's only do education to keep their practicing certificate not to keep them safe? 20 hours a year does ensure you can still practice BUT what if your practice was not safe? This could mean you may not be able to practice. The message behind this is do the training that is going to make you more skilled and a safe nurse. If you have to pay for it yourself, so be it. Just think what it would cost if you could not longer practice? I would like to get some discussion going on this topic.