Resources

A joint project by the Royal College of Nursing and the Queen's Nursing Institute 

A new report from the Royal College of Nursing and Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) calls for urgent investment in District Nursing, as new figures show the number of District Nurses working in the NHS has dropped by almost 43 percent in England alone in the last ten years.

As a result, there are only some 4,000 District Nurses providing care for a population of around 55.8 million in England, a ratio of only one District Nurse for every 14,000 people. This compares with one GP for every 1,600 people.

The report, Outstanding Models of District Nursing, calls for a commitment to investment and training to meet the challenges caused by simultaneous rising patient demand and falling numbers of these highly-qualified staff.

Recent government strategy has called for more nursing care to be delivered in the community and in people’s homes in order to reduce patients’ lengths of stay in hospital and avoid unplanned admissions.

The NHS Long Term Plan has identified the District Nursing service, which provides vital care for people in their own homes and in the community, as a key part of this strategy.

We launched the RCN/HEE Nursing Careers Resource at RCN Congress 2019. 

This tool is free and aims to help registered nurses from across the UK, and in time clinical support workers, identify new areas of practice that might suit their skills and aspirations. It highlights the wide scope of roles and opportunities available and presents options to encourage experienced nursing staff to pursue a fulfilling career.

The evolving online resource has a registered nurses section aimed at early career nurses and those nurses who may wish to view the opportunities a career in nursing offers. In time it will have resources for clinical support workers through to executive level nurses. The resource showcases a wide range of different roles within health care and demonstrates a range of career pathways, from all 4 pillars of nursing practice. 

The important aim of this resource is to help to keep nursing staff in the profession. It encourages them to consider all their career options within nursing so that they can feel inspired to try something new and fulfil their ambitions in this wonderful profession.  The launch event was live streamed and can be watched again for free by RCN members and non-members. 

If you would like a power point presentation to support you in the delivery of this then please email NursingCareersResource@rcn.org.uk

We are actively seeking feedback from users on the resource, which is still developing, please email your comments to NursingCareersResource@rcn.org.uk