To provide a highly-skilled General Practice Nursing (GPN) workforce, the General Practice Forward View includes investment to fund a support and development programme for nursing teams in primary care over four years. The plan is aimed at raising the profile of general practice nursing as a first destination career, improving access to training, increasing the number of pre-registration nurse placements, enhancing retention and supporting return to work schemes for practice nurses.
The ten point action plan for General Practice Nursing describes the changes required to improve recruitment and retention, and encourage the return of nurses to general practice. The plan aims to build and develop the capacity and capability that we need to see across the whole primary care workforce in order to enable us to manage more people’s health closer to home and support innovative approaches in delivering health and wellbeing.
The ten point action plan for General Practice Nursing aligns closely with and supports delivery of Leading Change, Adding Value: a framework for nursing, midwifery and care staff (LCAV). This ten point action plan will support nurses to implement LCAV, focusing on increasing and improving prevention, improving the quality of care and delivering value for money.
The Be a Greater Manchester Nurse campaign aims to recruit nurses in Greater Manchester, growing the profession and opening up opportunities for current, returning and future practitioners.
Nursing is, very simply, a vital profession, essential to everyone’s health, and our society. There’s nowhere better to be a nurse than Greater Manchester, where the choice of roles and career paths is as diverse as the area itself.
As a nurse here, you’ll have access to plenty of support too. When you want to start the next phase of your career, or change direction, you can do that here too, without having to relocate. So whether you’re a student, a nurse somewhere else in the UK, or a trained nurse who’s taken time out, you can make a nursing role your own in Greater Manchester.
There has never been a more exciting time to become a Greater Manchester nurse. Find out more at www.greatermanchesternurses.co.uk and #GreaterManchesterNurses #beagreatermanchesternurse .
Too often nursing goes unsung. That’s why the campaign film below is proudly supported by Greater Manchester’s own musical heroes.
Becoming a Registered Nurse
With so many people to care for – and the range of trusts, hospitals, primary and community services within our network – we can offer an impressive range of roles. You can work in hospital wards, outpatient units or specialist departments, or get out into the community, working in homes, GP practices or nursing homes. You could focus on adults, children, mental health or people with learning disabilities. There are also many opportunities in education, research, informatics and workplaces, the ambulance service, prison service and police – and we also have links with the voluntary and private sectors.
When you’re ready to move, we make it simple to change roles. So you can grow your skills in a particular area, or move sideways to take on a new role. You can also apply your skills with a different provider.
Return to Practice
However long it’s been since you were last registered as a nurse, we’ll make it enjoyable to return to this proud profession. You’ll need to complete a Return to Practice course. Financial support for this is paid for by Health Education England (and comes with an additional £500 to cover things like books, parking and childcare).
The course takes around six months, depending on how long you’ve been away and the clinical hours you need to complete. The minimum 22.5 hours per week in practice can also be tailored to work around your commitments. You’ll be able to immerse yourself in all the latest teaching and techniques, on an innovative and exciting course, which prepares you for clinical practice. And then, you’ll get back to doing what you do best – being a skilled, empathetic, experienced nurse.
Train to be a nurse
A nursing career isn’t something to be taken lightly. It calls for great focus and astute decision-making, and so training is essential. However, with the right approach, and the support we can offer through tutors, mentors / practice assessors / practice supervisor and university support networks, everything’s in place to ensure you succeed.
We have a reputation for holistic education. As well as covering the theory, we ensure you understand the clinical implications and practical applications of nursing. Outside of classroom work, you’ll also undertake a number of hospital and community placements, each introducing you to a new area of care, from sexual health to cardiology to A&E. You’ll also have a mentor / practice assessor / practice supervisor on each placement, who’ll be invaluable in supporting you. Their experience, knowledge and skill will help you to develop and unlock your full potential.
This competency framework addresses the common core competencies and the wider range of skills, knowledge and behaviours a nurse needs, to be a fully proficient General Practice Nurse (GPN).
Download General Practice Nurse competency framework
The competency framework is designed as an initial self-assessment tool to help individuals recognise their current level of competence and identify specific areas for further development. It can form the foundation of a portfolio of continuing professional development to assist all practitioners regularly review their level of competence and ensure they continue work within their scope of their professional practice.
The competency framework can also inform and support commissioning process; the design and delivery of education and training; workforce planning as part of recruitment, retention and progression (for example, job design, benchmarking candidates and the framing of interview questions); practice revalidation and evidence of meeting national quality standards.
Advanced Nurse Practitioner competency framework
The following documents provide guidance for educators, GP employers and aspiring Advanced Nurse Practitioners.
Download the General Practice Advanced Nurse Practitioner Competencies Framework and the Assessment documentation for use with Mentor / Assessor
The General Practice Nurse Education Network (GPNEN) is dedicated to excellence in General Practice Nursing and Education. The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has been funded by NHS England to develop a network to support General Practice Nurses. This network is part of a number of initiatives arising from the General Practice Nursing Ten Point Plan.
The GPNEN provides a repository of online resources to assist those nurses working in General Practice looking for continuing professional development initiatives and support.
Visit the GPNEN website at https://gpnen.org.uk.
Strong, visible nursing leadership with oversight of the quality and safety agendas is essential to ensuring the delivery of the Long Term Plan across the system.
The Shared Governance: Collective Leadership programme is made up of three central components.
These come together to demonstrate different ways to support nurses and midwives to influence and effect change at local, regional and national levels.
In the video below, Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, describes how the programme aimsto supporting organisations to empower staff to use collective leadership and shared decision-making approaches.
Find out more about the Shared Governance: Collective Leadership programme at www.england.nhs.uk/nursingmidwifery/shared-governance-and-collective-leadership/.
The Executive Nurse Networkis a support network of senior nurses. This network is for Directors of Nursing, Deputies or Assistants who may or may not have board level responsibility. The network is also on Twitter @rcnenn
Quality leadership is vital to your organisation and to patient safety.Clinical and Political leadership programmes will cultivate leadership skills and shape participants as future leaders.
The Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum will keep you up to date with what is going on in health and social care by bringing you news and links to keep you abreast of developments in the RCN and the UK. Most importantly they allow you to share your experiences and developments directly with other RCN members.
The RCN Principles of Nursing Practice describe what everyone can expect from nursing practice, whether colleagues, patients, their families or carers and provide a framework for care and quality improvement. This resource introduces the Principles and describes how they relate to other publications about the quality of nursing care. Principle H encompasses themes of leadership contributing to an open and responsive culture.
Nursing Now is a three-year global campaign (2018-2020), aims to improve health by raising the profile and status of nursing worldwide. Run in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the International Council of Nurses, Nursing Now seeks to empower nurses to take their place at the heart of tackling 21st Century health challenges and maximize their contribution to achieving Universal Health Coverage.
The campaign will focus on five core areas: ensuring that nurses and midwives have a more prominent voice in health policy-making; encouraging greater investment in the nursing workforce; recruiting more nurses into leadership positions; conducting research that helps determine where nurses can have the greatest impact; and sharing of best nursing practices.
The campaign is based on the findings of the Triple Impact report. The report concluded that as well as improving health globally, empowering nurses would contribute to improved gender equality – as the vast majority of nurses are women – and build stronger economies.
Find out more about the Nursing Now campaign at www.nursingnow.org and @NursingNow2020.