Having a trainee in the practice is a great way to develop your staff team and enjoy the rewarding experience of helping someone learn. Your trainee is just like any member of the team, except they are at the beginning of their journey. After a few weeks you should find that they are confident enough to assist in most routine procedures. You can assign a senior nurse to mentor the trainee, which can be a great way to give some extra responsibility to a valued team member.
Certainly. You need to have the right person as part of your team, so you will need to interview them and make the decision to employ the right applicant. We will never tell you who you must train. As the trainee is one of your team members, they will be an employee in the same way as your other staff. This means that they must meet your practice rules and you control the employment as you would for everyone else.
Trainee dental nurses require a minimum of 14 hours chair-side experience a week. They can work more hours and can work some of the time in different departments, such as reception. However it is vital that they spend 14 hours next to the dentist, performing the dental nursing role.
The normal rate for trainee dental nurses is between the minimum wage and £7.50 an hour. You can take on a trainee on a voluntary basis to complete their training, however we advise this as a short term option only. As the students are trainees and not apprentices, they cannot be paid less than the minimum wage.
This is a decision that needs to be made between the practice and the trainee. Many of our trainees wish to remain at the practices and complete further training course. Once they are a registered dental nurse they should be paid accordingly. As they are employed by yourselves the standard employment procedures apply.
You will need to ensure that someone is available to give the student feedback on their RoE. You will also need to complete some compliancy documents, which are specified by the NEBDN. These documents form your commitment to support the trainee.
Yes, you are not on your own. Harriet Ellis is here to support you throughout the process and you are welcome to contact us should you have any questions or need any help.
Unfortunately, not every trainee is right for every practice. We do work hard to ensure that our trainees work to the highest standards. Should you find that the trainee is not right for you, then you follow the normal employment procedures for your practice. You are in control of this process from start to finish. Please let us know and we will do everything we can to help you.