Supporting nurses' wellbeing

I have written previously about my organisation's participation in the nationally led Shared Governance Collective Leadership Programme (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2020). Organisations progress to applying to join the global Pathway to Excellence^® accreditation. The global programme is a ‘nursing excellence’ framework, aiming to create a positive practice environment for nursing staff that improves nurse satisfaction and retention and focuses on key standards: leadership, shared decision-making, quality, safety, wellbeing and professional development.

So much is written in relation to the current issues affecting our profession and how the current practice environment feels. The 2019 Royal College of Nursing (RCN) employment survey (RCN, 2019) found that 44% of nurses and midwives indicated that they had been unwell as a result of work-related stress in the previous 12 months, the highest percentage reporting this in the past 5 years. More than half reported attending work in the past 3 months despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties.