Caring for older people: The essential role of the care home nurse was produced in collaboration with registered nurses working in care homes and aims to raise the profile of care home nurses and offer solutions to policy challenges.
As part of a programme of work on safe and effective care, we have drawn on research and feedback from our members to consider the challenges around nursing in care homes. Around two-thirds of RCN members in Wales work in the community and many in care homes. Care home nurses provide highly skilled care and can reduce the need for individuals to receive care in a hospital environment.
Read the Welsh executive report summary.
RCN Wales Director, Helen Whyley, said:
“The Welsh government’s strategic objective to deliver care closer to home has led to a rise in care in the community, meaning that when people now enter residential care, they are at a more advanced stage in the condition of their health and thus have greater and more complex needs.
“This, combined with the high number of registered nurse vacancies in residential care homes in Wales and the downward trend in the number of qualified nursing staff working in social care, has a significant impact on the stability of the residential care sector and is deeply concerning.
“The Welsh government urgently needs to invest in care home nurses if it wants to deliver its strategy of care closer to home and to ensure that care home residents can receive the safe and effective care they need and deserve.
“This investment must include raising the profile of nursing in care homes, funded opportunities for continuing professional development, and strengthening the existing legislation to ensure a systematic inspection of services and detailed consideration of nurse staffing in the commissioning process.”
RCN member Sarah Kingdom-Mill, Care Home Education Facilitator, said: “It has been great to be involved with this important piece of work that is highlighting the essential role of the nurses within care homes. I have been working with care homes for some time and the key roles that the nurses have cannot be underestimated. Nurses in care homes are committed, skilled professionals, who have exceptional clinical decision-making and communication skills that they use in their autonomous roles. They play an imperative role in the wider context of our health and social care systems.”
The report is accompanied by a short film designed to celebrate and educate on the vital role of registered nurses in care homes. Stakeholders were invited to watch the film today and had the opportunity to discuss what needs to happen next to influence safe and effective care in care home for older people. The film is now available to watch online; RCN Wales hopes it will aid different stakeholder organisations with recruitment, commissioning and decision making.
