4 Out-of-hours community nursing - a challenge too far?
Matter for discussion submitted by the RCN Community Children's Nursing Forum
With continuing public concern over out-of-hours GP cover, this meeting of RCN Congress considers the challenges and opportunities for nurses to provide out-of-hours care
Work led by the RCN Public Policy Committee.
The debate at Congress 2008 focused on a number of key points, including the range of nurses contributing to, and leading, out-of-hours care in a variety of settings and ways, including telemedicine. Nurse entrepreneurial activities involving new models of provision - in which nurses employ medical personnel - were highlighted as was the need to engage the public in shaping service and role developments. The importance of using understandable terminology was agreed, along with the need for investment in educational preparation for the increasing number of nurses needed to work in the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Work has been undertaken to ensure that issues relating to out-of-hours care are referred to within the RCN work streams on end-of-life care, modernising nursing careers, commissioning (England), the review of nursing in the community currently underway in Scotland, community nursing strategy development in Wales, as well as metrics, outcomes and advanced practice.
The issues and points raised during the Congress 2008 debate have been reinforced in key speeches given by RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter, and at key meetings with chief nursing officers, secretaries of state, and ministers. Ongoing work is being undertaken in relation to streams identified in a plan of action. Work in Scotland, under the nursing in the community programme, is progressing well and will encompass reference to out-of-hours care.