Modernising Nursing Careers Consultation Launched, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 05 Nov 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Nurses and health practitioners were invited by Health Secretary Alan Johnson to share their views on their career development.

Speaking at this year's Chief Nursing Officer's Conference, he launched a formal consultation to look at a new structure for nurses' careers.

The draft proposals reflect changing health needs and the new ways in which healthcare is being delivered by organising nursing careers around a series of 'patient pathways'.

Five broad pathways that reflect patient care categories emerged from listening to stakeholders' and nurses' views earlier this year. They include:

- Children, family and public health
- First contact, access and urgent care
- Supporting long term care
- Acute and critical care
- Mental health and psychosocial care

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:

"The NHS cannot stand still in the face of profound changes in society and major challenges to health. We must design 21st Century healthcare systems to meet these challenges. This must be matched by a 21st century workforce and by launching this consultation on a new career framework nursing, has taken a major step in that direction.

"For the Health Service to reach its potential, we must ensure that every single member of staff reaches their potential. We are committed to delivering a rewarding and fulfilling career for today's and tomorrow's nurses which is why I'm delighted to launch our consultation on career planning for post-registration nurses.

"Everyone should have clear sight on where their career is heading. By linking these career paths with the patient pathways which are emerging in the Darzi Review we can ensure that professional development is linked with the transformation of the service."

Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley said:

"This national consultation is a great opportunity to shape the nursing careers of the future. The proposed new framework draws on the national and regional stakeholder events held over the last year and takes forward recommendations from Modernising Nursing Careers: setting the direction. It is so important that this consultation on post registration training is launched at the same time as the Nursing and Midwifery Council launch their consultation 'A framework for pre-registration nursing education'. We want to gather as many views as possible on the options proposed and to find out if you think the options proposed would work for nurses and equip them to provide the best care for patients and service users."

1. The consultation will finish on 15 February 2008.

2. The consultation documents are available on the Chief Nursing Officer's web site http://www.dh.gov.uk/cno.

3. Ahead of the consultation, the Department of Health ran a series of listening events across England in spring 2007 where over 1,000 nurses from clinical practice, education and research, along with staff side representatives and employer organisations, contributed to the development of these proposals.

4. The Government hopes to be able to report on the findings of the consultation later next year.

5. The regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), are also conducting a UK wide consultation to review pre-registration education at the same time. This review will consider the education that students receive in preparation to register to practice as a Registered Nurse. Although the two consultations are independent, this will facilitate a cohesive approach to the consideration of future nursing career pathways.

http://www.dh.gov.uk