Nurses are key to ensuring equitable access to cancer care

Cancer has again made national headlines in recent weeks with the news that King Charles III is receiving treatment for cancer, although the exact diagnosis has not been disclosed. Another royal by...

The needs of newly qualified nurses

Using PNA A-EQUIP to support the wellbeing and resilience of the public health nursing workforce

As an Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) regional programme manager leading on early years children and families, I am acutely aware of the workforce challenges faced by the public...

A blueprint for the NHS

‘The Times Health Commission has been set up to consider the future of health and social care in England in the light of the pandemic, the growing pressure on budgets, the A&E crisis, rising waiting...

Considering the impact of shift working on health

Shift work is necessary for the provision of health services, especially in hospitals as it is the only way to provide continuous service and care to patients (Turchi et al, 2019). Working at night is...

Resilience and burnout of healthcare workers during the early COVID-19 pandemic

The authors invited health professionals to complete an electronic survey, an outline of which can be found in Box 1. The survey was created using Microsoft Forms, and was distributed to HCWs...

Recruitment challenges in social care

‘… high levels of professional autonomy and responsibility. This supports confident and innovative practice together with strong clinical decision-making. The multi-faceted nature of their role means...

The experiences of internationally educated nurses who joined the nursing workforce in England

In the period 1990/1991 to 2021/2022, the percentage of new IEN Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registrants rose from 10% to 53% of the total annual number. In 2022-2023, more than 40% of new NMC...

What do we mean by accountability?

‘The professions we regulate have different knowledge and skills … They can work in diverse contexts and have different levels of autonomy and responsibility. However, all of the professions we...

Competency versus proficiency: trying to develop an understanding of these terms in the context of practice learning

The professional governing body for nursing in the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), has long produced educational standards to support the preparation of those wishing to become registered...

Why we all need to speak up

‘In the NHS, we sensed a lack of psychological safety to speak up and listen, despite the excellent progress made since the Francis Report. We would observe that the Freedom to Speak Up initiative...

Case study: the development of specialist nurse roles in Malta

Following objection by a medical association in Malta, the term ‘specialist nurse’ was replaced by ‘practice nurse’ to include all specialist and practice development nurses..