UK wide focus
Published: 07 September 2010
England
The RCN will be submitting a response to the Government’s white paper consultation and everyone has been invited to comment by 17 September. Read RCN Chief Executive Dr Peter Carter’s overview
Scotland
The Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPs) in Scotland said goodbye to Heather Strachan, their Scottish Government eHealth Lead, in June. During her four years in post Heather implemented a successful eHealth action plan with four streams:
- achieving NMAHP leadership and engagement in eHealth
- developing and integrating eHealth competencies in NMAHP education
- developing fit for purpose infrastructure and workable solutions
- advancing knowledge management.
Heather has made sure that NMAHPs have a higher profile in eHealth and there are tools such as the Managed Knowledge Network and eHealth Toolkit to support staff involved in eHealth developments. See the NMAHPs website for more information.
The NHS Scotland eLibrary is now known as the Knowledge Network and is linked to a new site, Health Informatics Scotland. This is a joint development by NHS Education for Scotland (NHS NES) and the British Computer Society to bring together resources on health informatics for clinicians and technical colleagues. It contains news feeds, links to evidence and events.
Northern Ireland
Michael Dunne, IN Forum Steering Committee member and Education Manager with Educare in Northern Ireland, looks at the scope and recommendations of a recent report
In May the RCN joined together with the European Centre for Connected Health (ECCH) and the Public Health Agency to publish a report entitled eHealth in Northern Ireland – the voice of nursing.
The work that underpinned the report was undertaken over a six month period. Its key objective was to engage with the nursing workforce in NI in an attempt to raise awareness about eHealth and gain insight into their knowledge and interest in nursing informatics.
The data collection methods in phase one of the study were:
• two half-day workshops attended by 87 delegates (opportunistic sampling)
• questionnaire and focus group interviews with the same nurses.
Following analysis of the data from phase one, a workshop was set up with nurse managers and nurse educators to explore the issues raised. In addition, a seminar was held in June 2009 to further inform the findings (phase two of the study).
As pointed out in the report, the findings of the study are not representative of the nursing workforce in NI in terms of age, gender, job band, role or area of practice since the majority of nurses who took part were senior practitioners and specialist nurses from a community nursing background. However, the findings demonstrate that among that group awareness of eHealth has been raised and a voice for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing management has been provided.
Among the recommendations:
- A nursing strategy should be developed to maximise the nursing contribution to eHealth with priorities for action and an implementation plan
- A nurse lead role in eHealth and Nursing Informatics is required to advance a nursing strategy in health.
- The science of data gathering, interpretation, analysis and application to nursing practice, education and management requires development
- Enthusiasm should be strengthened in nursing practice for using existing technology and information systems to create solutions for current nursing
- Education providers should consult with nurses to understand their learning requirements and develop programmes to meet their needs
- Courses in nursing informatics should be developed
- Courses to raise awareness and promote nursing informatics should be provided in the workplace, either face-to-face or remotely using a range of media
- Links between key stakeholders in policy, education and service delivery should be forged to drive forward the eHealth agenda in nursing.
For more information on the report contact RCN Northern Ireland.