Supporting nurses to deliver high-quality care

Kate Woodhead RGN DMS reflects on toxic work cultures, the stress placed on nurses during the pandemic, and the report’s key recommendations for supporting and empowering the workforce.

The King’s Fund was recently commissioned by the RCN Foundation to provide insights into: the changes that are required in nurses’ and midwives’ workplaces, ways of working to enable them to flourish at work, and how to provide appropriate support mechanisms, so that they are able to provide high quality care in a sustainable way. The report1 makes for sad and difficult reading and should be read by every nurse and midwifery manager, as well as senior managers and clinical leaders. It is hoped that this report will be the catalyst for a raft of changes, the NHS will be a better employer for the attention, and there will be changes to the means of support it provides. 

This article seeks to explore the key factors and report on the main elements of impact on the wellbeing of nurses and midwives, both before and after COVID-19. The scope of the report includes all grades of nurses and midwives including students and healthcare assistants and associates. It spans all four home nations and all care settings including social care, primary care and mental health, as well as acute care. Data was included from a literature review and three focus groups, as well as a series of 47 semi-structured interviews. This is a comprehensive report ensuring that the review team heard from a wide range of practitioners from a diverse range of perspectives. It is aimed at all those who can influence the work lives of nurses and midwives, including organisational and national nursing and midwifery leaders, workforce and professional development personnel, operational managers, national bodies, ministers and governments.