New standards will be developed for specialist community health practitioners.
A post-registration steering group (PRSSG) at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has recommended the regulator develop new standards of proficiency for three fields of Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN): school nurses, occupational health nurses and health visitors.
They are also recommending that initial work begin to scope what the content might be for standards of proficiency for a proposed new Specialist Practitioner Qualification (SPQ) in community nursing.
The steering group has also recommended to the Council that the NMC undertakes the review of these standards by working collaboratively and engaging with professional bodies and the public across the four countries of the UK.
This proposed work would then inform the content of any future standards, to equip practitioners with the right skills and knowledge they need to deliver high-quality care now and in the future.
Nursing has changed.
Dr Geraldine Walters, Director of Education and Standards for the NMC said; “Nursing and midwifery practice is far different today from ten years ago and who knows what the next ten years may bring.
“That’s why, since 2016, we have worked closely with many key partners to update our education standards for nursing and midwifery. Through that process and the development of our strategy for 2020-25, we heard how important it was that we next consider our current post-registration standards.
“We have heard a range of views about whether there is a need for regulation of post-registration. What is clear is that our current standards for SCPHN and SPQ practitioners no longer reflect what people using services in their home or in their local community need.
“We want to make sure that any new standards better reflect the work that many nurses in local communities are already doing, including complex clinical work, leading and managing teams and shaping local services.”