RCN sets out framework for 'community nursing success'

The college said it was intended to help community nursing “survive and thrive” and should be viewed as the “definitive reference point” for policy makers involved in reforming community services.

RCN chief executive and general registrar Peter Carter said: “Nurses working in the community help people to maintain or recover their health and independence where this is possible and minimise distress and discomfort where it is not. They are a reassuring mainstay of locally delivered healthcare and will continue to be so.

“Our new vision recognises the standing of the service they provide and its value in the delivery of the right care to patients, in the right place and at the right time. It gives us a solid platform from which to champion with healthcare employers, providers, policy makers and politicians the climate that is needed to deliver effective community nursing and patient care.”

The conditions include:

• Visible and consistent registered nursing identity and roles;
• Nursing services planned with the needs of users, not providers, in mind;
• Developing community nurse leadership capacity to help manage change from the outset;
• Community nursing careers and teams focused separately on children, young people and families, and on adults, but with seamless transition arrangements;
• Increased opportunities for community nurses to share good practice and evaluate the impact of their work in order to shape service improvement;
• Promoting community nursing as a positive career choice.

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