The RCN emergency care forum reveals its new plans and ideas to help it support, represent and be the voice of nurses working in urgent and emergency care

The RCN emergency care forum steering committee met for its annual strategy day recently, and we thought this would be a good opportunity to check in with an update on where we are.

We spent some time considering how to best deliver on our strategic objective – to support, represent and be the voice of nurses working in urgent and emergency care – and came up with some big plans for the year.

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The forum will continue to provide nursing expertise and guidance on significant external projects and boards across the devolved nations, working, for example, with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and NHS Pathways. It will also continue to contribute to internal RCN work on acute care, corridor care, patient flow, and accountability for patients waiting in ambulances outside emergency departments (EDs).

‘We have thought about what skills are specific and unique to emergency nursing and whittled the competencies down accordingly, with the aim of ensuring nurses feel confident and competent in their craft’

Some of our plans are new: we are close to launching the reviewed National Curriculum and Competency Framework for Emergency Nursing level 1 and level 2.

Unique and specific skills to emergency nursing

This has been a significant piece of work; we have condensed the two levels into one document to make it easier to use and track progression.

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We have also thought about what skills are specific and unique to emergency nursing and whittled the competencies down accordingly, with the aim of ensuring nurses feel confident and competent in their craft.

We also plan to review the joint RCN and RCEM Nursing Workforce Standards for Type 1 EDs. These standards are designed to be used by those responsible for planning, commissioning and implementing nursing workforce models – in the name of patient safety and quality of care, there has never been a time where we have needed this more.

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We know that for many of you, providing good quality emergency care is at its most  challenging, but do not forget that the care you give patients makes a difference every day. Together, we can continue to make emergency care a specialty to be proud of.

Sarah Cato is chair of the RCN’s emergency care forum; and Kendal Andreason is the RCN’s UK professional lead for acute and emergency care