Social care nursing has long been seen as the poor relation to the more appealing specialisms of clinical nursing. Yet it is overlooked at the peril of anyone working in the health and care professions.
In the 1980s, community-based nursing units, led by primary care nurses, were held up as a new way of nursing patients not needing acute care. In fact, nursing development units had already been in existence for many years. Today, they are the nurse-led services in the care homes sector.
Social care nursing exists in many specialisms, including learning disability and autism, drug and alcohol services and complex domiciliary community care, and it provides management of continuing health care.
In this respect, social care is not a career with limited options for nurses. Rather, it is the place where diverse skills of assessment, advanced decision making, care coordination, leadership and complex relationship management are needed – and demonstrated – across all health and care settings.
So, to malign social care as the place where the less able go to work is as grossly unfair as it is untrue. The 34,000 or more registered nurses working in the social care sector in England have hugely complex workloads, often practising in isolation and without the benefit of machines going “bleep” or doctors running to assist when something goes wrong. It is autonomous, caring, skilled nursing at its best. It demands adaptability and the capability to trust themselves and others. It places advocacy at the forefront of appropriate care and the creativity that these nurses demonstrate in the dispensation of that care is, for me, the true essence of nursing.
I am pleased to see space being created on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register for a Specialist Practice Qualification in social care. We need to build on these generalist skills and create a workforce underpinned by postgraduate qualifications in advanced practice that combines established social care skills with advanced clinical assessment, prescribing, research and leadership.
Building a career pathway that creates ambition and recognition in social care nursing is without doubt the right thing to do.
There is also opportunity to develop social care nursing research and share its learnings across all care settings, not simply within the care home sector. ‘Nursing laboratories’ can exist anywhere that services are delivered and social care settings provide a great space for clinical research. In 2022, we launched a series of Care, Research, Education and Debate (CRED) Talks to showcase this research and encourage more nurses to become consumers and participants. Working with the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research, we will continue to build interest in an already growing research community.
In 2023, I hope we will see the appointment of the first chair in social care nursing in the UK. This would be an important leadership position and one I have championed in my role as Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in England.
As we seek to build future capacity for the ever-expanding social care sector, visible senior leadership is critical. To do this, we must establish an inclusive and influential voice, banging the drum for all 1.6 million registered and unregistered social care colleagues in England – and beyond – supporting them to reach their potential. They already make an incredible difference every day to people and families in need of social care and they represent a workforce bigger than the NHS.
As we face ongoing challenges in recruitment, we have to offer something better, different, exciting and challenging if we are to retain the best and recruit new and emerging talent for the future.
Is social care nursing really a Cinderella service? Oh, no it isn’t! We all know how that particular story ended: she went to the ball and won the prize. I really do think social care nurses could do the same and end the pantomime of misconceptions about the amazing work they do, once and for all.
Deborah Sturdy CBE RCNF (2019)
Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in England
Department of Health and Social Care GOV.UK
In the 1980s, community-based nursing units, led by primary care nurses, were held up as a new way of nursing patients not needing acute care. In fact, nursing development units had already been in existence for many years. Today, they are the nurse-led services in the care homes sector.
Social care nursing exists in many specialisms, including learning disability and autism, drug and alcohol services and complex domiciliary community care, and it provides management of continuing health care.
In this respect, social care is not a career with limited options for nurses. Rather, it is the place where diverse skills of assessment, advanced decision making, care coordination, leadership and complex relationship management are needed – and demonstrated – across all health and care settings.
So, to malign social care as the place where the less able go to work is as grossly unfair as it is untrue. The 34,000 or more registered nurses working in the social care sector in England have hugely complex workloads, often practising in isolation and without the benefit of machines going “bleep” or doctors running to assist when something goes wrong. It is autonomous, caring, skilled nursing at its best. It demands adaptability and the capability to trust themselves and others. It places advocacy at the forefront of appropriate care and the creativity that these nurses demonstrate in the dispensation of that care is, for me, the true essence of nursing.
I am pleased to see space being created on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register for a Specialist Practice Qualification in social care. We need to build on these generalist skills and create a workforce underpinned by postgraduate qualifications in advanced practice that combines established social care skills with advanced clinical assessment, prescribing, research and leadership.
Building a career pathway that creates ambition and recognition in social care nursing is without doubt the right thing to do.
There is also opportunity to develop social care nursing research and share its learnings across all care settings, not simply within the care home sector. ‘Nursing laboratories’ can exist anywhere that services are delivered and social care settings provide a great space for clinical research. In 2022, we launched a series of Care, Research, Education and Debate (CRED) Talks to showcase this research and encourage more nurses to become consumers and participants. Working with the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research, we will continue to build interest in an already growing research community.
In 2023, I hope we will see the appointment of the first chair in social care nursing in the UK. This would be an important leadership position and one I have championed in my role as Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in England.
As we seek to build future capacity for the ever-expanding social care sector, visible senior leadership is critical. To do this, we must establish an inclusive and influential voice, banging the drum for all 1.6 million registered and unregistered social care colleagues in England – and beyond – supporting them to reach their potential. They already make an incredible difference every day to people and families in need of social care and they represent a workforce bigger than the NHS.
As we face ongoing challenges in recruitment, we have to offer something better, different, exciting and challenging if we are to retain the best and recruit new and emerging talent for the future.
Is social care nursing really a Cinderella service? Oh, no it isn’t! We all know how that particular story ended: she went to the ball and won the prize. I really do think social care nurses could do the same and end the pantomime of misconceptions about the amazing work they do, once and for all.
Deborah Sturdy CBE RCNF (2019)
Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in England
Department of Health and Social Care GOV.UK
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