What are the developments in social care nursing for 2024?
According to Skills for Care’s latest data, there are around 37,500 registered nurses working in social care as part of a workforce of 1.6 million.
The nursing workforce has grown for the first time since this data has been collected and we have also seen an increase in nursing associate roles which are relatively new to the social care sector. Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, has driven the following agendas.
Driving innovation
The voice of nursing continues to be shared through the We Are Social Care Nursing resource, as do many opportunities for the workforce, along with various networks and forums for people to get involved. For more information, visit Skills for Care’s dedicated nursing pages on its website.
At an academic level, Skills for Care has seen the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Foundation invest in the first Chair of Adult Social Care Nursing at the University of Salford, which is a five-year investment appointing the first Professor of Social Care Nursing.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) launched the standards of proficiency for community nursing specialist practice qualifications (SPQ) last August and since then, The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has, with partners, developed some voluntary field specific standards for social care. Universities are currently building these programmes which should be launched next year.
Sharing expertise
The sector has also seen the development of Social Care Nursing Advisory Councils, sitting in every Integrated Care Board (ICB) in England and representing social care in strategic planning and delivery across health and care. Some of these councils are still being established but they present a promising way of getting involved locally.
Support for registered nurses and nursing associates in social care is incredibly important in order to retain the workforce and ensure social care is an attractive place to work. Skills for Care has recently launched its nursing recruitment and retention toolkit webinar series, which will be an ongoing resource for employers, the workforce and key stakeholders to access.
In addition, The Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS) will be delivering fully funded Resilience Based Clinical Supervision (RBCS) programmes for social care nurses to support wellbeing across England next year for any social care setting. Later in this feature, FoNS provides further comment about its new RBCS programmes and how it hopes to benefit the sector with meaningful training and development opportunities.
Workforce development
Skills for Care’s workforce data tells us that the sector’s nursing workforce remains diverse, with 44% of nurses coming from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. To support this, the Florence Nightingale Foundation is offering fully funded BAME Leadership programmes to develop the sector’s social care nursing workforce.
In terms of newly appointed colleagues to look out for in 2024, NIHR has appointed a Social Care Fellow, Dr Zena Aldridge, who will be developing the research offer for the social care nursing workforce. NIHR will also continue to offer its online sessions, CRED Talks: Social care and research partnerships, for anyone interested in social care research to join. Secondly, the RCN has a new team dedicated to the independent sector, including adult social care.
Further resources continuing to share the latest research, best practice, innovation and policy in 2024 include The QNI’s Care Home Nurses Network funded by the RCN Foundation and supported by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
There is so much happening for social care nursing and the sector in 2024. Get the latest updates from Skills for Care via its dedicated website and social media channels.
The social care nursing workforce has lots to look forward to in 2024. There will be a continued and inclusive call to action via the We Are Social Care Nursing resource, bringing together the voice of social care nursing in the sector and its place in the wider system. It is also hoped that in the year ahead, contemporary social care nursing will be better understood as nurse-led services with great professional autonomy. There will also be opportunities to innovate, with a truly person-centred focus. The work of Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, who is passionate about the experience and development of nursing in social care, has and will continue to be a huge driver of this work. Deborah is firmly placing social care nursing in ICBs and the wider health system, in universities and in the sector itself, as an opportunity to promote healthier lives, better outcomes and enhanced experiences of care. 2024 will see more conversations take place and greater action taken to ensure social care nursing has parity of esteem with other sector specialisms. This means that ongoing work towards planning our nursing recruitment and retention toolkit webinar series will be needed. This interactive resource will continue to deliver content on developing placement opportunities, early careers support through preceptorship, evidence-based practice and promoting career development. We will continue to collaborate with key stakeholders to raise the profile of social care nursing. This will be achieved by ensuring nursing programmes and development opportunities are relevant. The wider social care sector will also continue to be a valued partner and help us to achieve our objectives. Despite this, we do recognise there will also be ongoing challenges to navigate, including workforce shortages, the cost-of-living crisis and an increased public demand for health and care services, improving access to development opportunities. Do you know a nurse that deserves special recognition? Nominate them for the Social Care Nursing Award at the Markel 3rd Sector Care Awards 2025. Nominations open this autumn. Lucy Gillespie, National Professional Lead – Nursing, Skills for Care. X @LucyHGillespie Email: [email protected]
The spotlight is shining on social care nurses in 2024, with several opportunities for professional development. It is recognised that clinical supervision has not previously been particularly accessible to nurses working in social care, but this is all about to change with the provision of the RBCS programme. The FoNS is an independent charity that focuses its energies, knowledge and expertise around compassionate, person-centred cultures of care. The vision of the charity is that all individuals should experience health and social care as person-centred, safe and effective. This includes those who are both giving and receiving care. The RBCS programme is designed to show nurses how they can give compassion to themselves and therefore to others. It is a form of restorative supervision where nurses understand how to listen, support and challenge themselves and their colleagues to be able to improve their capacity to manage the difficult and stressful situations they experience. RBCS is a participative programme which runs over five sessions. Each session builds the knowledge and confidence of the nurses, so they will, by the end, feel able to have supervision sessions with their colleagues. It is an evidence-based model of clinical supervision which focuses on the ‘emotional systems motivating the response to a situation’. It includes elements of mindfulness-based exercises with a view to ‘enhancing wellbeing, resilience and improving patient care’. Nurses from any social care setting are welcome to attend the RBCS programme. All that is needed is the time to attend, a quiet space and a laptop with a camera, as it is a participative programme. The programme is currently free to all social care nurses. For more information, please visit our dedicated website or email [email protected]. We look forward to welcoming you on to the RBCS programme. Sue Hill, Resilience Based Clinical Supervision (RBCS) Project Manager and Co-facilitator, the Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS). X @5sue2 Email: [email protected]