Year: 2014
Type: editorial
Abstract: The focus of this, the first edition of JRN to be published in 2014, is on the nursing workforce.This contribution to the body of nursing knowledge on workforce issues feels timely.Workforce has been widely reported in the UK, and discussed globally, throughout the last year, with concerns being repeatedly raised about staffing levels and skill mix and their impact on patient safety and the quality of nursing care in the National Health Service (NHS) in England.Equally, concern was expressed about the professionalism of healthcare staff and the need for nurses in particular to demonstrate compassion.The Public Enquiry, led by Robert Francis QC, conducted in response to concerns about high mortality rates and poor governance in the Mid Staffordshire acute care provider, made nearly 300 recommendations (Francis, 2013).Described by his peers as 'formidable' and 'forensically exceptional' (Campbell, 2013), the breadth and depth of Francis' recommendations might well have been anticipated.Needless to say, the political desire for a simple solution to a complex problem was not forthcoming.With particular reference to the healthcare workforce, recommendation 23 called for 'evidence-based tools for establishing what each service is likely to require as a minimum in terms of staff numbers and skill mix'.Acknowledging that 'the problem' was systemic, and not unique to Mid Staffordshire, and perhaps somewhat overwhelmed by the complexity of the Francis report, the UK Government, which, as a result of political devolution has jurisdiction over the NHS in England (only), commissioned two additional reports.American clinician-academic and Obama government adviser Donald Berwick MD, founder of the internationally acclaimed Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) (discussed previously in JRN, see for example Beattie (2013)) was commissioned to 'study the various accounts of Mid Staffordshire, as well as the recommendations of Robert Francis and others, to distil for Government and the NHS the lessons learned, and to specify the changes that are needed' (National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England, 2013).Berwick offered just 10 recommendations which must have come as a great relief to the Government.Unsurprisingly, Berwick echoed Francis with regard to workforce planning and staffing levels:Government, Health Education England and NHS England should assure that sufficient staff are available to meet the NHS's needs now and in the future.
Source: Journal of research in nursing
Author: Ann McMahon
Language: English
Subfield: Research and Theory
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4240519258