A more inclusive nursing strategy

As this issue of Nursing Management went to press, NHS England launched a new nursing framework to replace its Compassion in Practice strategy.

Leading Change, Adding Value sets out ten commitments designed to help nurses and midwives become leaders in their profession, driving service improvements from the bottom up and providing the highest quality patient care.

Leading Change, Adding Value sets out ten commitments designed to drive service improvements from the bottom up

The 6Cs – compassion, courage, care, commitment, competence and communication – remain at its heart.

England’s chief nursing officer Jane Cummings says the framework has cut down on the jargon found in the 6Cs strategy and gives nurses a national document that they can implement at local level in their own organisations.

This new approach should be good news for nurses and nurse leaders. An evaluation of Compassion in Practice revealed that almost one third of nurses had never heard of it and almost three quarters had no involvement in any aspect of the strategy locally. In addition, senior nurses were far more likely to be aware of it and be involved in strategy projects than their more junior colleagues.

These findings show that the top-down nature of the previous strategy did not engage front line staff and that a more inclusive, organic approach, as promised by Ms Cummings in the new framework, is the way forward.

For Leading Change, Adding Value to have any impact on service delivery, patient care and staff morale, buy-in from nurses at all levels is essential.

Senior nurses have a role to play in this: encourage your team to read up on the framework and put forward their ideas on how it can be implemented in your organisation. Then involve them in any plans to bring about change as a result.

As three of the commitments state – promote, lead and champion your team to become the best nurses and leaders they can be.