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QNI resource to help increase care home nurse numbers

QNI resource to help increase care home nurse numbers

The QNI has launched a new educational resource to better outline the role for nurses who wish to work in care homes.

The guide is the latest in the QNI’s series of ‘transition’ resources for student nurses, nurses who have recently started working in the community, or who are considering a new role.

The new resource, written by Queen’s nurse Sharon Aldridge-Bent (right) with input from an external review group of care home nurses, is structured into 10 chapters. 

There are specific chapters on subjects such as the fundamentals of nursing care, safe working and regulation, adults at risk, dementia care, building relationships with family, and career development.

The resource is intended for registered nurses who may have overall responsibility for nursing within the care home environment, as well as educators, students, and unregistered carers who work in this setting.

As with its other ‘transition’ resources, the QNI recommends that it is used with the support of an experienced mentor.

Ms Aldridge-Bent said: ‘We developed this resource with the knowledge that the care home setting is one of the largest and growing areas in which nursing care is delivered on a daily basis.

‘There are far more beds with nursing homes than there are in all the hospitals combined, and residents usually live there for months or years. Historically the care home has not always been viewed as a prestigious place in which to work, but this undervalues the growing opportunities in this sector.

‘The role of the registered nurse working within a care home is a highly skilled one, requiring an in-depth knowledge of long-term conditions associated with aging, managing complex multiple morbidities and frailty.

‘The nurse is required to maintain a person and relationship centred approach to this care, recognising that the care home is the person’s home as well as a place of care. Care home nursing is diverse, with the need to practice autonomously, liaising with many health and social care professionals, as well as building long-term relationships with residents, relatives and significant others.’

The resource will be available as a printed book and can be ordered from the QNI website shop.

A ‘taster chapter’ of the online version of the resource can be downloaded from the QNI’s website.

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The QNI has launched a new educational resource to better outline the role for nurses who wish to work in care homes.