Following the recent workforce innovation programme, the In-Reach nursing team in Bath changed from being dedicated to specific care homes, to being part of the new primary care trust's community-based district nursing team. This meant that the nursing team was less able to provide the assessment and support for care staff undergoing training to develop nursing skills.
This project therefore aimed to find new ways of supporting the care staff whilst they were gaining the new nursing skills formally carried out by district nurses or health visitors.
The aim of the project was to provide care staff with the support and assessment required to gain new skills to provide nursing-type care to their residents. The project team wanted to pilot the use of a nursing team to support the training and professional development of these workers.
The project team initially tried to recruit nurse assessors to replace resources within the In-Reach team but the recruitment process was unsuccessful. Therefore, existing In-Reach team nurse assessors and assessors who had recently left the nursing team were invited to continue to support candidates until alternative arrangements could be made.
A proposal was put forward and agreed with the primary care trust to allocate the project's assessor role to a returning member of staff who had expressed a wish to undertake the assessor role and increase her capacity to work full-time. She was a registered nurse, a clinical NVQ assessor and was familiar with the new types of worker project and the In-Reach team philosophy. The appointment covered the assessment gap and enabled the project to continue.
Through the NVQs, the workforce developed their knowledge and skills of healthcare units. Staff attended induction training for the award along with any bespoke training that was required. Ongoing support was provided by the nurse assessors.
Providing care home staff with the training to develop nursing-type skills allows them to undertake tasks that were previously carried out by district nurses and health visitors. This supports their continuous professional development and increases confidence and job satisfaction whilst providing a more comprehensive service to residents.
In order to maintain this training, there is a need to provide continued support for the training and continuous professional development of the staff.
Content provided by Skills for Care.
