New ‘first-of-its-kind’ adult social care nursing faculty

The Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN) has launched a new faculty of adult social care nursing to help ‘strengthen’ the professional status and leadership opportunities for nurses in the sector.

The faculty was announced during a visit to a nursing home in Leamington Spa yesterday by Steph Lawrence on her first day as the new chief executive of the charity.

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It comes after the QICN last month announced its new faculty of general practice nursing’ – described as a ‘professional home’ for nurses in general practice.

Ms Lawrence said she was ‘delighted’ to launch the faculty, which has been described as the first-of-its-kind, on her first day in post.

‘The faculty recognises the expertise and leadership of adult social care nurses who deliver care in diverse and often challenging environments, developing a new and much-needed platform to influence policy, research, and innovation in care,’ she explained.

‘I believe this is a major step forward in raising the profile of this essential workforce.’

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The faculty is designed to provide strategic leadership, advocacy and specialist education for nurses working across a range of care settings including care homes, domiciliary services and community-based nursing.

The QICN hopes it will work as a central hub for providing professional support, workforce planning and to share best practice, and said it would work with partners across health and social care in an effort to achieve these goals.

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At the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in May, social care nurses warned that investment into social care is urgently needed to ease the corridor crisis, bring more nurses into the sector and prevent system-wide failure.

Earlier this year, the minister for care, Stephen Kinnock, told a Care England conference that social care staff deserve ‘greater dignity’ and more opportunities to develop within the sector.