Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHS
Derek Conlon
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Comment on: Risks and benefits: changing the nursing skill mix
In paragraph four you refer to "psychosocial care", hand holding and talking, which the article then goes on to say does not need to be delivered by qualified nurses. Is this the opinion of the management consultants or the author? Psychosocial care is something that has been included in nursing curricula for many years. The reason for this is that the recognition of the need for it as well as its sensitive and timely delivery are skills that must be developed in order to provide holistic care to a patient. Having attended the Nursing Times conference on dignity and respect in nursing recently I am more convinced that it is exactly this sort of hand holding and talking that not only improves the patient experience but is a central part of the delivery of compassionate care that our patients and professional bodies are crying out for us to return to. I have the greatest respect for the many HCA colleagues I work with and recognise their role as invaluable in delivering care to patients. There is a danger however in looking at the tasks or roles that a registered nurse takes on in a busy day and failing to understand the assessment and forethought that have gone into the choice of intervention and its prioritisation. Very few of my nursing colleagues have the time to be providing any sort of care to people unless in their professional opinion it is essential that they do it.
