A new film encouraging more people to consider a career in community nursing has been launched today.
The film, produced by Health Education England (HEE) and the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), showcases the role of community nurses in providing patient care.
The care settings featured include end-of-life care, homeless healthcare and running cardiac rehabilitation classes.
It also highlights the shortage of NHS district nurses. Since 2010, numbers have dropped from 7,000 to just over 4,000 in England.
The film was shot in London, Leeds and Dorset last summer, and follows a number of district nurses and other community specialists over their working day.
Mark Radford, chief nurse at HEE, noted the film is a ‘timely’ celebration coming at the start of the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in 2020.
Community nursing is a ‘challenging, interesting and rewarding career option’ but can sometimes be ‘overlooked’ by newly qualified nurses, he said.
He continued: ‘HEE is committed to doing all it can to raise the profile of the variety of roles and help boost numbers in community settings so this film is a great reminder of what the roles offer not just to patients but their families too.’
Chief executive of the QNI Dr Crystal Oldman said that community nursing is often ‘not well understood’.
She continued: ‘I invite you to watch this new film and be inspired by the outstanding, compassionate care you see being delivered in the community today. There are some very powerful scenes in the film and I am very grateful to all of the nurses and patients who took part and shared their experience so generously.’
