BARNEY NEWMAN
NEWS
Military nurses’ growing role Soldiers are increasingly willing to discuss emotional problems with mental health nurses, an army nursing officer claims. Speaking at an event organised by the RCN’s defence nursing forum last week, Captain Corinna Conley (pictured) said: ‘It is becoming more acceptable to say “I have a problem… help me sort this out”.’ Capt Conley, an officer in Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, is part of a nurse-led multidisciplinary mental health team. She said the team provides
pre-deployment briefings to soldiers on how to cope with the pressures of conflict roles. Team members also travel to war zones to give front line care to military personnel and to discuss with them how to adjust to life back at home. The event, co-hosted with the RCN History of Nursing Society, compared nursing today with care during the first world war. Claire Chatterton, chair of the history society, said mental health nursing in the military had come a long way, although nurses in the Great War were involved in ‘some very pioneering treatments’.
RCN cautions the regulator over use of appraisals in revalidation Exclusive by Alistair Kleebauer @alistairbauer An international study of regulation showing that countries comparable to the UK do not link appraisal to re-registration should serve as a caution to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the RCN has said. The college compared the NMC’s proposed revalidation model with systems used in five countries with similar socio-political and economic systems to those of the UK. The college’s research into nursing and midwifery in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and Slovakia found none of these countries’ regulators asked managers to confirm fitness to practise. Howard Catton, the RCN’s head of policy, said: ‘Given we have not found anywhere that uses appraisal, an area that has resulted in significant feedback, it is a cautionary note.’ The NMC wants to replace post-registration education and practice with revalidation, due to be introduced in December 2015.
Information from a registrant’s appraisal would feed into the process. This has prompted concerns among some nurses, who say their positions could be compromised if they have a poor relationship with their manager. Another proposed requirement under revalidation is that registrants’ fitness to practise is confirmed by their manager and another registrant if the manager is not on the NMC register.
Peformance measures
The regulator is keen to harness existing systems such as appraisals to provide third-party confirmation and inform other parts of revalidation. However, the RCN’s study showed none of the other regulatory systems it studied used appraisals. A policy briefing paper produced from the study states that none of the other countries’ regulators insist on having third-party confirmation from managers. The RCN backs the NMC’s decision to stipulate that nurses must complete
a set number of hours of continuing professional development (CPD), but says these requirements need to be supplemented by additional support systems that help to connect CPD to future healthcare challenges. The college document states: ‘Delivery of this long-term aim would likely be helped by providing protected CPD time, enabling nurses to focus on what their genuine future learning needs are, rather than reacting to artificial time constraints, which can undermine learning outcomes.’ An NMC spokesperson said: ‘Revalidation has been designed to operate in the health system of the four countries of the UK and to be flexible enough to accommodate the scopes of practice for all the nurses and midwives on our register.’ She pointed out that the regulator considered international revalidation systems when developing its model. Read the RCN’s policy briefing at tinyurl.com/meujrph See feature page 24
NURSING STANDARD october :: vol 29without no 8 ::permission. 2014 13 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Sep 11, 2016. For personal use only. No22 other uses Copyright © 2016 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
NEWS
Military nurses’ growing role Soldiers are increasingly willing to discuss emotional problems with mental health nurses, an army nursing officer claims. Speaking at an event organised by the RCN’s defence nursing forum last week, Captain Corinna Conley (pictured) said: ‘It is becoming more acceptable to say “I have a problem… help me sort this out”.’ Capt Conley, an officer in Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, is part of a nurse-led multidisciplinary mental health team. She said the team provides
pre-deployment briefings to soldiers on how to cope with the pressures of conflict roles. Team members also travel to war zones to give front line care to military personnel and to discuss with them how to adjust to life back at home. The event, co-hosted with the RCN History of Nursing Society, compared nursing today with care during the first world war. Claire Chatterton, chair of the history society, said mental health nursing in the military had come a long way, although nurses in the Great War were involved in ‘some very pioneering treatments’.
RCN cautions the regulator over use of appraisals in revalidation Exclusive by Alistair Kleebauer @alistairbauer An international study of regulation showing that countries comparable to the UK do not link appraisal to re-registration should serve as a caution to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the RCN has said. The college compared the NMC’s proposed revalidation model with systems used in five countries with similar socio-political and economic systems to those of the UK. The college’s research into nursing and midwifery in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and Slovakia found none of these countries’ regulators asked managers to confirm fitness to practise. Howard Catton, the RCN’s head of policy, said: ‘Given we have not found anywhere that uses appraisal, an area that has resulted in significant feedback, it is a cautionary note.’ The NMC wants to replace post-registration education and practice with revalidation, due to be introduced in December 2015.
Information from a registrant’s appraisal would feed into the process. This has prompted concerns among some nurses, who say their positions could be compromised if they have a poor relationship with their manager. Another proposed requirement under revalidation is that registrants’ fitness to practise is confirmed by their manager and another registrant if the manager is not on the NMC register.
Peformance measures
The regulator is keen to harness existing systems such as appraisals to provide third-party confirmation and inform other parts of revalidation. However, the RCN’s study showed none of the other regulatory systems it studied used appraisals. A policy briefing paper produced from the study states that none of the other countries’ regulators insist on having third-party confirmation from managers. The RCN backs the NMC’s decision to stipulate that nurses must complete
a set number of hours of continuing professional development (CPD), but says these requirements need to be supplemented by additional support systems that help to connect CPD to future healthcare challenges. The college document states: ‘Delivery of this long-term aim would likely be helped by providing protected CPD time, enabling nurses to focus on what their genuine future learning needs are, rather than reacting to artificial time constraints, which can undermine learning outcomes.’ An NMC spokesperson said: ‘Revalidation has been designed to operate in the health system of the four countries of the UK and to be flexible enough to accommodate the scopes of practice for all the nurses and midwives on our register.’ She pointed out that the regulator considered international revalidation systems when developing its model. Read the RCN’s policy briefing at tinyurl.com/meujrph See feature page 24
NURSING STANDARD october :: vol 29without no 8 ::permission. 2014 13 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Sep 11, 2016. For personal use only. No22 other uses Copyright © 2016 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
