Commission Heralds New Image For Future Of Nursing, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 02 Mar 2010 - 19:00 PDT

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UNISON, the UK's largest public sector union, today (2 March) welcomed the focus on high quality, compassionate nursing contained in the Prime Minister's Commission report.* The report puts nurses and midwives at the heart of the NHS, sweeping away old fashioned ideas and replacing them with the reality of the highly professional nurses and midwives of today.

Gail Adams, UNISON Head of Nursing, said:

"This report makes clear the central role nurses and midwives play in ensuring patients receive high quality compassionate care.

"We need to tell the tale of modern nursing and midwifery today, to make sure people make decisions about joining the profession based on reality, not on stereotypes or historical caricatures. Nurses are neither saints nor sinners and more would relate to the patient advocate role in Nurse Jackie, than to Carry on Nurse.

"UNISON welcomes the Commission's recommendation that health care assistants and support workers should be regulated, a move that the union has campaigned long and hard for. For that reason we would like to see regulation fast-tracked, so that patients can be confident about the skills of the person treating them.

"The input of nurses in framing these recommendations shines through the report. Public protection must be paramount and it is right to put nurses centre stage in delivering that care. It is also crucial that their recommendations are heard and listened to at board level."

"We will be working with the Department of Health and Trusts to turn the recommendations into reality."

* Front line care - report by the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England

Source
UNISON

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