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Not many days after publishing a blog post on "The £15 an hour minimum wage - for dental nurses" I was hosting the business theatre at The North of England Dentistry Show and noticed Fiona Ellwood rapidly approaching with a look of determination.
My first thought was "I'm in trouble here" (not sure where that comes from) but in actual fact what followed was a very supportive and useful conversation about my raising awareness of the current challenges faced by the profession as a whole and the individual challenges faced by dental nurses around the country.
Fiona asked if I would share some of my observations and thoughts "live" and so, this evening at 19:00, I'll be meeting with her on Zoom and answering her questions (and, I think, those of the audience) on any topics around the state of the world, of dentistry and of the dental nursing profession.
It's obvious and yet important to me to state that I've never done days dental nursing in my life, but I have worked with dental practices exclusively for the last 26 years on business improvement.
That, and daily feedback from my clients, has given me a privileged insight into "a day in the life of a dental nurse in December 2021".
Business improvement doesn't just mean "making more money for the owners" because, even before the pandemic, it was clear that the most successful dental business were those who combined an acceptable level of business profit with happy teams and exceptional patient care.
Even in a normal working environment, that's a balancing act.
Throw in the events of the last year and half and you have a challenge that has tested every one of us to the limits.
This evening I want to talk about what's going on in dentistry right now (the view from the hot air balloon, floating 10,000 feet above dentistry) and then slowly descend towards life "in the trenches" of daily dentistry - how to simply get through the day without breaking.
Sure - we will be talking about pay - but listening to the nurses who work for my clients, it's not just about the money. I want to set that in the wider context of how we keep the whole show on the road, creating a win:win:win for owners, team and patients.
It's tough to be a dental nurse (or to attract people to consider that career) - but I'm also optimistic that we can build a better future.
Join Fiona and I at 19:00 this evening - we we will be live and unscripted - who knows what might happen.
It's free and you can register here: