Community nursing: new standards aim to improve training
Queen’s Nursing Institute standards will prepare nurses for the specific challenges and skills needed to work in six different fields
New standards for six areas of community nursing, including district, general practice and community mental health nursing, have been launched as part of efforts to improve training.
The standards – which were consulted on earlier this year – were developed by the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) in collaboration with universities, expert nurses and patients.
They apply to specialist practitioner qualifications (SPQs) in adult social care nursing, community children’s nursing, community mental health nursing, district nursing, general practice nursing, and inclusion health nursing.
Standards are a response to core qualification
The voluntary standards were devised following the introduction of a core specialist community nursing qualification by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2022.
The qualification was aimed at nurses working in all community settings and replaced five distinct fields – district nursing, general practice nursing, community learning disabilities nursing, community children’s nursing and community mental health nursing – that had been in place since the 1990s.
However, many in the profession were worried that a generic qualification would not prepare specialist nurses for the specific challenges and skills needed to work in different fields.
Meanwhile, there are ongoing concerns about shortages of district and other community nurses with lack of recognition and career progression – as well as heavy caseloads – blamed for nurses leaving community-based roles.
Standards ‘will benefit staff development, recruitment and retention’
The new SPQ standards are designed to build on the core qualification by providing more detail on what different community nursing roles involve and what nurses need to be taught.
QNI chief executive Crystal Oldman said the new SPQ standards would benefit nurses, employers and patients.
‘Individual nurses will have access to clearly articulated educational pathways based on standards which are consistently applied by higher education institutions for their field of practice,’ she said.
‘This will have a wider benefit in terms of staff development, recruitment and retention for employers across the system.’
Standards for additional fields are imminent
Higher education institutions can now apply to the QNI to get their courses endorsed.
Standards for three other fields of community nursing – health and justice nursing, community learning disability nursing, and community palliative and end of life care – are due to be published later this year.
Read more about the new standards
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