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

The public health nursing workforce in England is facing significant workforce challenges, including recruitment, retention and increased workload and demand. For health visitors and school nurses, the impact of the increased health and social care needs of families further adds to the workforce challenges.

The professional nurse advocate (PNA) Advocating and Educating for QUality ImProvement (A-EQUIP) professional nurse leadership programme, developed by NHS England (2023), offers an opportunity to enhance workforce wellbeing, resilience and retention. The PNA model builds upon the principles of restorative clinical supervision (RCS), enabling practitioner-focused reflective discussion on quality improvement, monitoring and evaluation of practice, professional development and leadership.

Early evaluation indicates that PNA-facilitated RCS increases awareness about the importance of staff wellbeing, and engagement in RCS-supported nurse retention.

It is important that commissioners and providers work together to champion the implementation of the model within public health nursing teams and embrace the benefits of the model to support staff wellbeing.