The number of healthcare assistants employed within the NHS has risen in accord with policies supporting the growth and increasing scope of practice of the assistant workforce. Healthcare assistants are a vital component of the community nursing team. This article presents an overview of findings of a National Institute for Health Research funded study into the roles of community nursing assistants (at bands 2, 3 and 4) working in community nursing provider organisations in England. The findings are based on national workforce data and the experiences and perceptions of senior managers, service leads and caseload holders, who employ or work directly with community nursing assistants to provide adult services nursing care.
Carers play a huge role in supporting people to live at home. In some cases, they provide around-the-clock care for people who would otherwise need to be admitted to hospital or transferred to a nursing home. Carers are crucial to home and community care and yet there is little awareness of, and support for, the important role that they play.
The health of the population is determined by a range of complex and interconnected influences, many of which, such as poverty, inequality, housing, education, employment, mobility, transport and pollution, fall outside a medical remit. In order for nurses and other healthcare professionals to tackle public health, they not only need to engage with individuals, families and communities, but should also have the ability to influence the design and development of services and understand the new relationships with local authorities and other agencies.
Jane DeVille-Almond, Independent Nurse Consultant/Chair of the British Obesity Society; Senior Lecturer at the University of
Wolverhampton.
Since The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) was established in 1887, we have been a charity focused on improving the experience of the patient cared for in the home and community.
One of the many ways in which we can demonstrate that we make a tangible difference to patients, families and carers is through the support we give every year to the successful delivery of our QNI frontline innovation projects.
Crystal Oldman, Chief Executive of The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI).
As government reforms seek to encourage health and social care professionals to work closer together, Jason Beckford-Ball and Binkie Mais investigate what this means for community nursing services.
A recent Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) event in London looked at ‘healthcare at home’ and the JCN was there to see what the future holds for nurses tasked with providing more care in patients’ homes.
In each issue of the Journal of Community Nursing we investigate a hot topic currently affecting our readers. In this, our re-launch issue, we take a look at the changing face of care provision in the UK with the question...Who is today’s community nurse?
Anne Pearson, Practice Developmen,t Manager,QNI
Anne Williams, Lymphoedema Nurse Consultant and Researcher, Blantyre, Scotland
Kate Arkley, Community RGN, Galway, Ireland
Jackie Stephen-Haynes, Professor and Consultant Nurse in Tissue Viability, Birmingham City University and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust Annette Bades District Nursing Specialist Practitioner and Clinical Lead Cardiorespiratory, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust
Michael Hughes defines incontinence and discusses its prevalence and service provision.
Wendy Parkinson asks if in view of the increasingly complex care being delivered in the community setting can the exisiting community nurse workforce meet the challenges.
Wendy Parkinson RGN, BSc (Hons), MSc is a Managed Care Nurse Specialist, Portsmouth City PCT.
Article accepted for publication: March 2006
