9. An evaluation of the role development and preparation needs of nurse consultants specialising in safeguarding children in England (150)
Helen Franks, Senior Lecturer in Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom
h.franks@salford.ac.uk
Abstract:
Background:
The nurse consultant role in safeguarding children is relatively new, shaped by national initiatives to develop expert clinical nursing and in response to child protection concerns. The role is also unique, managing high-level risk and interfacing with other sectors.
Aims:
The study sought to establish the developing role, contribution and value of these nurses and in particular to establish nurse and stakeholder perceptions of the inherent strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the role.
Methods:
In 2007, semi-structured interviews took place with a representative, geographically dispersed, purposive sample of nurses (N=4) and stakeholders (N=6). This data was contrasted with a documentary analysis of the nurses’ job descriptions/specifications and an analysis of four-weeks of data detailing their daily activities.
Results:
Several dominant themes emerged, including the unique nature of the role; the emphasis on leadership; the wide scope of the professional responsibility; the lack of role clarity amongst senior staff and the influence of change both within and outside the role. A lack of evaluation and understanding about the benefits the role appeared to pose a major threat to its future survival and the study pointed to some of the tensions that exist between the intended focus of the role at national level and local service need.
Discussion & conclusions:
This study highlights the developmental nature of this new role and the pressures that exist. Evaluation to establish the role’s impact is imperative. Equally, a national debate on how we prepare and sustain nurses to deliver effectively on this wide portfolio is necessary. This paper will illuminate both why the role should continue to be developed and why it may not survive. It offers clues specific to the discipline of safeguarding children and adds to the national data set of knowledge around the nurse consultant role in the UK context.
Source of Funding: UK - Higher Education Institution
University of Salford
Amount in Funding: 1,000 - 10,000
Biography:
Helen Franks has worked in a variety of community nursing roles including school health, family planning [young people] and health visiting in inner London. During this time, she worked closely with homeless, refugee and vulnerable families and became interested in their specific health and social needs. Helen studied for a Master’s in Health Promotion before moving into the higher education sector in 1995. Since then she has worked as an academic and researcher at a number of Universities including King’s College, London; The University of Technology, Sydney; Manchester Metropolitan University and presently as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Salford. She has also worked as a researcher in Australia studying health service management. She has participated in two nationally funded research projects one looking at how nurse/client interactions promote health and the other evaluating a national initiative linking primary care health workers with primary schools. Her main research and teaching interests are in the public health, evidence based practice and nurse education areas. She is currently developing a research project to look at the beliefs and attitudes of parents and carers of young people (aged 11-13 years) in relation to their own and their children’s alcohol use.