Older people - RCN resources

The RCN has published a range of online resources and publications which support the care of older people.

Safer staffing resources

The RCN has published guidance on staffing levels for nursing staff working with older people. Hospital care for older people is currently an area of intense public concern across the UK. The publications below set out guidance and recommendations for the provision of good quality, compassionate and safe nursing care for older people in hospital.

Further online resources

These are arranged in alphabetical order of title.

Dementia
This online resource supports the RCN's commitment to the care of people with dementia in general hospitals. The commitment sets out key principles and considerations for promoting a positive experience for people with dementia and their families and can be used by staff to help support improvements and make positive changes. View the Commitment. The commitment is also supported by a range of resources that can be used by nursing staff to improve dementia care.

Dignity
An online resource which promotes dignified care and provides a range of resources to put this into practice. These resources will help to support a patient-centred approach to care and enable patients, their relatives and carers to feel in control and be able to make decisions for themselves.

Nutrition and hydration
This online resource builds on the learning and activities from the RCN Nutrition Now Campaign and related initiatives across the UK, using the RCN Principles of Nursing Practice to illustrate the nursing contribution to good nutrition and hydration. It highlights what is known about the strategies required to improve nutritional care and signposts policy, guidance and tools across all four UK countries that support improvements in nutritional care. Examples and case studies demonstrate what can be achieved.

Patient safety and human factors
An online resource which introduces you to a broad range of activities relating to patient safety and human factors. The resource signposts further resources and support available from the RCN, and provides an overview of the active patient agenda being pursued across the United Kingdom.

RCN Principles of Nursing Practice
The Principles of Nursing Practice describe what everyone can expect from nursing practice. whether colleagues, patient, their families or carers. Principle A makes clear the importance of dignity in delivering quality nursing care. You can find out more about this and the other Principles in this resource - how they were developed, how they are being used and how they can be measured.

Safeguarding
This resource aims to help RCN members locate information that is practical, useful, relevant and adaptable in different settings. Resources are arranged under the headings: adult; children and young people; vulnerable people; safeguarding professionals.

Spirituality
“A person’s spirituality, whether religious or non-religious, provides belief structures and ways of coping through which people begin to rebuild and make sense of their lives in times of trauma and distress. It offers ways in which people can explain and cope with their illness experiences...". This resource has been created to enable nursing staff to develop their knowledge and understanding of spirituality and spiritual care. It was created in response to RCN membership who identified the need for the nursing family to be able to be proactive in delivering spiritual care, and it builds on the RCN spirituality pocket guide published in 2011. Links to relevant RCN publications are provided as well as links to other resources and publications on spiritual care.

RCN publications

These are arranged in date order, most recent first. The publications listed below are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

Persistent challenges to providing quality care An RCN report on the views and experiences of frontline nursing staff in care homes in England (2012) (PDF 1.5MB)
This report looks at care homes and the difficulties many nurses are currently facing in providing care for residents. The survey of nearly 600 care home nursing staff expressed serious concern about the level of care some residents are receiving. The report identifies a lack of training for staff, inappropriate admissions and extreme pressure on the workforce leading to poor staff morale. The report also highlights the key issue of funding and admissions.

Dementia project (2011)
The RCN facilitated a national project supported by the Department of Health, to influence and guide the provision of dementia care in acute care settings. The project has involved surveys of practitioners, people with dementia and carers about how to improve care, as well as consultation with a range of other organisations and key people.

Older people in care homes: sex, sexuality and intimate relationships (2011) (PDF 422KB)
Issues concerning sex, sexuality and intimate relationships in care homes are complex, and dealing with these can pose difficulties for older people, partners, families and staff. This guidance has been developed to help nurses and care staff work effectively with issues of sexuality, intimate relationships and sex, particularly for older people living in care homes. It aims to facilitate learning, support best practice and serve as a resource to help nurses and care staff address the needs of older service users in a professional, sensitive, legal and practical way.

An ageing population: Education and practice preparation for nursing students learning to work with older people. A resource pack for nursing students (2008) (PDF 1.4MB)
This resource pack considers the education and practice preparation of nursing students in the context of an ageing population and its aim is to promote the need for leadership, effective mentoring, best practice and positive images of nursing older people. It contains ideas and resources which can be used by nursing students, including organisation and government websites. Also available for nursing students is a laminated A5 sized card which identifies the positive aspects of mentorship.

An ageing population: Mentorship A5 card for nursing students (2008) (PDF 358KB)
This laminated A5 card identifies the positive aspects of mentorship as well as mentoring rights and responsibilities. A full resource pack for students is available from www.rcn.org.uk/publications (publication code 003 222): An ageing population: Education and practice preparation for nursing students learning to work with older people.

Dignity campaign publications and resources (2008)
The RCN has published various materials and resources on dignity and related topics to inspire improvements in practice and the quality of care for patients and clients.

Let’s talk about restraint. Rights, risks and responsibbility (2008) (PDF 383KB)
This publication is aimed at nurses working with adults, with examples and case studies particularly geared towards the care of older people. It sets out what restraint is, the ethical and legal frameworks surrounding restraint, and the support and guidance nursing staff should expect their employers to provide. It will also help nurses' understanding of what to do if they suspect inappropriate or abusive use of restraint and to reduce the risks if restraint is used.

Maximising independence: the role of the nurse in supporting the rehabilitation of older people (2007) (PDF 182KB)
This publication aims to clarify the role of the nurse in rehabilitation and to offer thoughts on issues which nurses should consider when working in practice. The role of the nurse in rehabilitation should be person-focused, and nurses are encouraged to work in a facilitating role to maximise the independence of the older person.

Continence in care homes – a framework to gather and share key information (2007) (PDF 986KB)
A continence care framework developed by the RCN, providing key questions and suggestions where residents of a care home may have continence problems.

Caring in partnership: older people and nursing staff working towards the future. An RCN nursing older people strategy progress and evaluation report (2007) (PDF 1.4MB)
This publication emphasises the importance the RCN places on promoting nurses' contribution to meeting the needs of older people and ensuring their health and wellbeing, and reviews the progress of work surrounding the RCN's Nursing Older People Strategy, which was launched in 2004. The strategy has ensured that the RCN works to achieve an integrated, consistent and inclusive way of working that focuses on maximising the potential of nursing staff and older people.

Caring in partnership 2 years on: older people (2006) (PDF 1.5MB)
This booklet complements Caring in partnership: older people and nursing staff working towards the future, the RCN's strategy to promote the contribution nurses can make to meeting the needs of older people and ensuring their health and wellbeing. This report details the progress made during 2005/06 in implementing the strategy and identifies the actions to be taken in 2006/07.

Essence of care - continence care for people with Parkinson's Disease (2006) (PDF 416KB)
Essence of Care looks at a variety of fundamental and essential aspects of care one of which is Continence Bladder and Bowel Care. An RCN working group identified key indicators for best practice in continence care for people with Parkinson's Disease to guide nurses when evaluating the practice within their clinical area. The resource pack aims to raise standards of care and encourage parity of best practice in Continence Care.

One year on: Caring in partnership (2005) (PDF 92KB)
In May 2004, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) produced its first ever strategy to promote the contribution that nurses can make to meeting the needs of older people and ensuring their health and wellbeing. This report describes the progress that has been made in the first year since the strategy was launched. It reviews progress in achieving the milestones detailed in the strategy and prioritises actions for 2005/06. It also includes a number of short examples of how RCN members have used the strategy in their work and how the RCN is working with partners to further the aims of the strategy.

RCN position statement on care home fees (2005) (PDF 124KB)
This document outlines the RCN’s concerns about funding arrangements for care homes in the UK. It details the principles that will underpin our work with Government to ensure that care home fees reflect the need for adequate provision, choice and quality of care. It includes findings and quotations from a survey of 800 RCN members working in care homes.

Caring in partnership: older people and nursing staff working towards the future: Guidance for nurses (2004) (PDF 208KB)
This publication highlights the importance the RCN attaches to promoting the contribution that nurses can make to meeting the needs of older people, and ensuring their health and wellbeing. It also acknowledges the importance of nurses working in partnership with older people and other organisations involved in their care.

RCN care home survey 2004 Impact of low fees for care homes in the UK (2004) (PDF 318KB)
Following the 2003 Congress resolution concerning the closure of care homes, this survey was conducted to explore the impact of low fees on the quality of care. It investigated the views of nurses working in this sector on staffing, residents' needs, funding and their opinions of their jobs.

Clinical practice guideline for the assessment and prevention of falls in older people (2004) (PDF 5.11MB)
NICE commissioned the National Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Supportive Care (NCC-NSC) to develop guidelines on the assessment and prevention of falls in older people. This document describes the methods for developing the guidelines and presents the resulting recommendations. The NICE guideline and other related documentation can be found at Clinical guidelines: falls.

Nursing assessment and older people: a Royal College of Nursing toolkit (2004) (PDF 296KB)
Designed to be used as part of the overall assessment of a resident in a care home, this toolkit can assist nursing staff to both articulate and quantify their contribution to the health and social wellbeing of older people and to make effective use of all available skills and resources. It describes the role of the expert nurse in the care of older people, and outlines how the debate about continuing care affects nursing. The tool is divided into five stages, and assessment sheets at the back of the publication have been designed to be photocopied or downloaded from the website, and completed for each resident. This toolkit draws on the work of the RCN report What a difference a nurse makes (publication code 000 632).

Information for nurses: What a difference a nurse makes: An RCN report on the benefits of expert nursing to the clinical outcomes in the continuing care of older people (2004) (PDF 474KB)
This report looks at the importance of focussing predominantly on disease-specific measures. It provides a framework for analysing case examples, and when looking at continuing care for older people identifies specific nursing intervention outcomes, with suggestions on the overall quality of care measures to be used.

How nurses can help you: an RCN guide for older people and their families (2001) (PDF 899KB)
This booklet is aimed at older people and their families to help them decide when they need a nurse, what to ask for when they do need one and also what to expect. 

Other resources

Older People's Forum
This RCN forum is for all RCN members who work with and for older people in any setting. It is a dedicated online community containing news, features, and an area on the discussion zone.