School to play major role in PM’s Nursing Commission
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The Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery at King’s College London is to play a major role in the government’s new Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery. Head of School Professor Anne Marie Rafferty CBE has been appointed as Commissioner among a group of leading nursing luminaries including Chief Nursing Officer Dame Christine Beasley, Health Minister Ann Keen MP and Dr Peter Carter, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
The School will be submitting its own evidence to the Commission and will also contribute to a special “Student Day” in July organised by the RCN, which aims to involve nursing and midwifery students in the debate and promote participation from tomorrow’s healthcare professionals.
These activities follow on from a year in which the School has achieved far ranging impact in the field of nursing policy. Professor Rafferty was seconded to the Department of Health to chair the Task and Finish Group on nursing metrics and driving up the quality of nursing care. As part of this work the Department of Health commissioned two reports from the National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) at the School, to provide evidence and stimulate debate about Lord Darzi’s exciting healthcare vision laid out in High Quality Care for All.
In addition to considerable and prolonged media attention, the reports – titled ‘Nurses in Society: starting the debate’ and ‘State of the Art Metrics for Nursing: a rapid appraisal’ – have already driven change nationally with both being widely used by NHS organisations to develop their workforce for the future. They have also attracted international interest from ministries of health in South Africa and Australia.
The Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery was launched in March 2009. It has been set up to ensure that frontline nurses and midwives have the support, skills and competencies that they will need to design and deliver 21st century quality services.
Dame Christine Beasley and Ann Keen MP are both Visiting Professors at the School, allow with fellow commissioners Eileen Sills, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Jane Salvage. Ann Keen is the first nurse to be appointed as a government minister and chair of the Commission.
For more information about the Commission, and to have your say on the future of nursing and midwifery, visit cnm.independent.gov.uk/
These activities follow on from a year in which the School has achieved far ranging impact in the field of nursing policy. Professor Rafferty was seconded to the Department of Health to chair the Task and Finish Group on nursing metrics and driving up the quality of nursing care. As part of this work the Department of Health commissioned two reports from the National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) at the School, to provide evidence and stimulate debate about Lord Darzi’s exciting healthcare vision laid out in High Quality Care for All.
In addition to considerable and prolonged media attention, the reports – titled ‘Nurses in Society: starting the debate’ and ‘State of the Art Metrics for Nursing: a rapid appraisal’ – have already driven change nationally with both being widely used by NHS organisations to develop their workforce for the future. They have also attracted international interest from ministries of health in South Africa and Australia.
The Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery was launched in March 2009. It has been set up to ensure that frontline nurses and midwives have the support, skills and competencies that they will need to design and deliver 21st century quality services.
Dame Christine Beasley and Ann Keen MP are both Visiting Professors at the School, allow with fellow commissioners Eileen Sills, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Jane Salvage. Ann Keen is the first nurse to be appointed as a government minister and chair of the Commission.
For more information about the Commission, and to have your say on the future of nursing and midwifery, visit cnm.independent.gov.uk/