A new set of voluntary standards for general practice nursing has been launched today by the Queen’s Nursing Institute, aiming to aid education and practice of senior general practice nurses, and ‘make explicit the practice expectations’ of the role.
The standards cover four key areas – clinical care, leadership and management, facilitation of learning, and evidence, research and development.
Key recommendations
Senior general practice nurses should:
- Develop at least one area of special interest, in accordance with the needs of the practice population.
- Ensure that every member of the practice nurse team is able to recognise vulnerability in adults and young people.
- Analyse the practice population to ensure all patients with long-term conditions are identified.
The QNI claims that the standards are to be used as ‘a starting point’ to support discussion and planning in the development of the general practice nurse role.
While they stress these standards are only voluntary, the QNI intends for them to guide higher education institutions when developing education programmes and enhance the regulatory standards outlined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
You can download the standards in full here.
