Ruth Cann and Joanne Roche
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Nurses providing care and support to Older People span the full pathway of Health, Social and Third sector services. With people living longer with long term palliative conditions such as frailty and dementia, new nursing roles have evolved to support this population.
Scoping within the Cardiff and Vale region has found various Clinical Nurse Specialist or Frailty Nurse roles that sit within various specialities across Primary and Secondary care. These range from Discharge Nurses in secondary care to Nurses working in the community in Integrated Health and Social Care teams. There are variations in the training and education these staff have received, and future opportunities for development in their area of practice. This variation has governance and recruitment and retention implications.
The aim of this project is to develop a Competency framework and Network for nurses working with Older People. This will involve in depth scoping of roles and mapping of existing training and education resources available locally and nationally. Longer term, development of pathways/ alignment of roles across the system to ensure equitable standards of care, improve communication and reduce duplication. Also, consideration of career development pathways.
This project will benefit patients through improved quality of care and services delivered, and staff through improved education, training, and opportunities to raise the profile of their role and unique skills. Further to this;
- Improved governance and consideration of how these roles fit into the wider system.
- Opportunity to analyse systemic issues (for example issues around access to services and navigation of an overly complex systems).
- A more confident workforce with the skills to champion strengths-based approaches and positive risk taking.
- Improved use of ‘What Matters’ conversations.
- Development of strong voices/ leadership in the field of Older People’s Nursing and Research participation.
Jo Roche and Ruth Cann
