FAQs
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How do I register with Florence?
- Simply download the Florence app.
- You can complete your entire registration process via the app.
- The team will be in touch to offer support.
- Enter your postcode and basic details to see if there are shifts available near you.
- If shifts are available, you can go ahead and complete registration.
- If there aren’t any shifts near you, we’ll put you on our waiting list and contact you when things change.
Find out which documents you need to register here.
Do you offer any training?
If you’re a care organisation, you can provide world-class online training to your team via Florence Academy for business, including the Care Certificate. Choose and assign from 100+ online courses, track progress at-a-glance and send auto-reminders so your team’s training never goes out of date.
If you’re a care professional, you can train for free in our e-learning space for health and social care professionals, Florence Academy.
Florence care professionals can take free mandatory courses during registration. Once you’re fully registered, you’ll have free access to all 100+ courses, which you can use for your professional development.
If you’ve never worked in care before, we offer a free Pathway to Care course. This includes everything you need to know to begin working in health and social care, so it’s a great way to kick-start your career.
Non-Florence care professionals can take courses for free and then choose to buy a certificate for £2.99 + VAT.
Got another question?
Head to our help centre to search frequently asked questions, or chat to us now.
Do you offer visa sponsorship?
We do not currently offer visa sponsorship, but if you’re currently in the UK on an eligible visa and have enough relevant care experience, you can register with Florence.
Does Florence offer holiday pay?
You’ll earn holiday pay every time you work a shift, and we’ll include it with your pay every Thursday. You can choose to take holiday whenever you like, using the holiday pay you’ve saved. You’ll see the gross amount – hourly rate, plus holiday pay – for each available shift on the Florence app. We’ll break down hourly pay and holiday pay on your payslip, too, so you’ll know how much you’ve accrued.
How long will it take to sign up?
It can take as little as 3 working days to register with Florence. If all your documents are eligible and in date, we are able to approve your application quickly. References and security checks often take the longest to sort out, so we recommend getting these ready first. We’ve put together a handy guide to registration here.
How much does Academy cost?
Every course on Academy is free to take.
If you have finished registration with Florence and are a Florence worker, you can see and download course pass certificates for free. You can also access our video courses for free.
If you have not finished registration with Florence or you are not a Florence worker, it costs £2.99 (ex VAT) to see and download each course pass certificate, £7.99 (ex VAT) to purchase a video course and £29.99 (incl. VAT) to purchase a course collection.
How can I validate my certificate?
You now have a public profile, so it’s much easier to share your achievements with your employer.
When you download your certificate, you’ll see a link and a candidate number. Simply share the link and candidate number with your employer: they can use this information to view all the certificates (with dates) on your public profile.
You can share your certificates on social media by linking to your public profile, too.
We now charge a small fee to download our certificates. When you pay for your certificate, it’ll appear on your public profile.
How should I write a statement?
You should follow the statement guidance, making sure that you give a full account – including relevant background information. Keep it factual: don’t give your opinion about what others may or may not have done. Instead, stick to what you saw or heard personally. Always use professional language rather than slang or offensive language (unless you are directly quoting someone).
If you need any help writing your statement, please get in touch and we’ll support you.
How do I pay for Academy certificates?
It’s free to learn on Florence Academy – you can go through all modules in a course and complete assessments without paying.
We charge just £2.99 (ex VAT) to see and download each course pass certificate, and £7.99 (ex VAT) to purchase a video course.
You can buy your certificate immediately after completing the course (and passing your assessment), or you can purchase it later by clicking the “Get certified” button for the course on your certificates page.
We accept most card types, including Visa and Mastercard. We don’t currently take PayPal.
*You won’t need to pay for certificates for courses completed before 11 January, 2023. If you have finished registration with Florence and are a Florence worker, you can see and download course pass certificates for free.
How will I get paid?
You’ll get paid directly into your bank account every Thursday. If you need to get paid faster, we offer an ‘Instant Pay’ option: you can receive up to 60% of your pay when your timesheet gets approved (for a £1 admin charge).
I have completed registration with Florence – how do I access Florence Academy?
Log in to Florence Academy with the same details you use to log in to Florence.
You will be able to take all Academy courses and download course certificates for free.
I thought there were going to be two nurses on duty, but when I arrived for my shift, I was made responsible for 50+ residents by myself. Is this an incident?
Make sure you read the healthcare organisation description before you commit to working a shift. If you find out the healthcare organisation description isn’t accurate when you arrive for your shift, that could be because resident needs or occupancy have changed.
If you’re not comfortable taking extra responsibility, don’t accept the keys and call Florence immediately. If you feel overwhelmed partway through the shift, raise your concerns with both Florence and the service manager to get support. Under those circumstances, you will need to complete the full shift.
In both cases, you should create an incident report to help stop the situation happening again.
I wasn’t given a login for the care documentation or medication administration systems at the healthcare organisation. Is this an incident?
You are responsible for documenting the care that you give, and you need a login to do so. You may be given a generic login – for example, “Agency Nurse” instead of a name. If so, write your name at the end of each entry to maintain a clear audit trail of the care you’ve given.
You should never use someone else’s login or ask someone else to complete care documentation for you. If you’re asked to do that, speak to the person in charge and politely explain why it’s important for you to have your own login.
If you can’t access the system with your own login, please raise this as an incident by telling both the manager at the care home or hospital and Florence.
What if I think the incident report contains malicious allegations about my practice?
If you think you’ve been maliciously accused, write a thorough statement about the allegations anyway. Keep it factual, rather than emotional. If you believe there’s a reason someone might have made up an allegation about you, please include this in your statement and we’ll investigate.
I’m concerned about a healthcare organisation I’ve worked in. What should I do?
Always report your concerns, even if you’re unsure about specifics. You can report to incidents@florence.co.uk through Florence’s Freedom to Speak Up Officer. Florence also has a Raising Concerns and Whistleblowing policy.
What information will I be able to see before booking shifts?
In the app, you’ll be able to filter shifts by:
- Hourly rate.
- Distance from your address.
- Shift type (day or night).
- Break information (length of time; paid or unpaid).
- Travel and parking information.
- How other care professionals have rated the care provider.
What is Academy?
Academy is an online learning platform designed for those working in social care and looking for professional development. You can log in or create an account here.
What is CPD?
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is the way that professionals continue to learn and develop throughout their career and ensure they keep their skills and knowledge up to date to be able to practise safely.
If you work in a role that requires registration with a regulatory body such as nursing, then you are required to keep your skills and knowledge up to date through CPD.
For example, all nurses on the NMC register must complete 35 hours of CPD in a three year period. E-learning can count towards some of the required CPD hours, so the great news is Academy e-learning modules can be used to evidence ongoing CPD hours!
Each module on Academy gives an indication of the time required in “active learning” to complete it. Once the module is completed and the assessment passed, a certificate is then issued which can be downloaded.
The terms CPD hours/scores/points are used interchangeably, although a module on Academy does not give the number of CPD “points”, the general guide is that usually one hour of learning equates to one CPD “point”.
Most of Florence Academy modules are independently accredited by the CPD Standards Office and many of them are also aligned to the Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF). Each course overview details whether the course is accredited and/or aligned, meaning you can be confident that they meet industry standards.
To find out more about:
– CPD Standards Office please visit here
– CSTF alignment please visit here
– NMC CPD revalidation please visit here
What pay rates can I expect when working for Florence?
Our rates are set by the NHS trusts and the social care organisations we work with. This means the rates can change depending on your location, skills and preferences.
Rates can also change depending on the staffing needs of a care organisation or area – for example, if more care professionals are needed to fill shifts in a particular area, rates can go up.
Here’s a guide to the sort of rates you might see for advertised shifts:
NHS
Nurse: £20 – 51 per hour.
Social Care
Nurse: £22.50 – £50 per hour.
Care assistant/support worker: £12 – 23 per hour.
Once you’re fully registered, you’ll be able to see all the roles and rates available near you.
What should I do if a service asks me to attend an investigatory meeting?
While it’s important to be helpful and engage with the investigation, you should immediately tell Florence’s incident support team by emailing incidents@florence.co.uk.
We’ll support you by finding out what the allegation is. Then, we’ll get copies of witness statements, MAR charts and other documents that might help you prepare for the meeting. Sometimes, we can help you write a really detailed statement, which might mean you no longer have to attend the meeting.
If applicable, tell your union about the investigation – especially if your practice is in question.
What should I do if I’ve been asked to write a statement during or after a shift?
While it’s important to be helpful, engage in the investigation and provide a statement, you should immediately tell Florence’s incident support team by emailing incidents@florence.co.uk.
We’ll support you by finding out what the allegation is. Then, we’ll get copies of witness statements, MAR charts and other documents that might help you write the statement. We’ll also review your statement before it’s sent to the service to make sure it’s a factual, thorough response to the allegation.
If applicable, tell your union about the investigation – especially if your practice is in question. They may offer a statement-checking service.
What should I do if I’ve been referred to SSSC/NISCC or NMC Fitness to Practice?
Don’t panic! Around three-quarters of NMC referrals are closed at the initial screening stage.
Tell us straight away and one of our governance nurses will support you and help identify any training needs, reflection and remediation.
What training can Florence Academy offer?
There are a variety of courses available on Florence Academy. These include:
– Fire Safety
– Moving and Handling Theory
– Equality and Diversity
– First Aid and Life Support
– Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults
– Mental Capacity
– Infection Control
– Medication Administration
– Information Governance
– Food Hygiene
– Health and Safety
– Dementia Level 1
– Guide to Nurse Revalidation
– Conflict Resolution
– Safeguarding Children (Child Protection)
Log in to browse the latest courses.
Where do you have shifts?
We have shifts available across the UK in the social care sector and NHS. To find out if we have shifts near you first download the app, submit your basic details, including your postcode, and we’ll tell you if there are shifts currently available near you. If there isn’t any work nearby, we’ll add you to our waiting list. When shifts do become available, we’ll email you so you can continue registering.
Which documents do I need to register with Florence?
You can see which documents you need to register with here.
Why do I need to write a reflective account if I’ve already written a statement?
If we ask you to write a reflective account, we’ve identified a gap in your knowledge and want you to do some extra training. We need to make sure you’ve learned from the incident and know what you’d do differently to stop something similar happening again.
If you’re a registered nurse, we recommend using the NMC template for reflection. You can also use this template for revalidation. If you’re a care assistant or support worker, click here to download a reflective account template.
Why do I need to write a statement about a “near miss” where no-one was harmed?
Investigating “near misses” is just as important as investigating adverse events. Learning from them could prevent a more serious incident – or a fatality. Near miss reports provide vital information about working conditions and processes, as well as highlighting areas that might need attention so they don’t become a problem.
Will I be told about the outcome of the investigation?
When we close an investigation, we email all people involved and tell them about the outcome, unless doing so breaches confidentiality. We’ll normally contact the person who reported the incident and the witnesses that we spoke to during the investigation.