A day in the life of a Student Specialist Practitioner District Nurse….
…is a day filled with variety and new learning experiences.
Making the transition from experienced Community Staff Nurse to novice Specialist Practitioner District Nurse is a challenging and scary prospect, but comes with undeniable perks. I have embraced the opportunities afforded to me through the luxury of being given ‘full time student’ status, not least of which is protected time to attend events such as the QNIS conference.
Community nursing as a profession is changing dramatically. We are at the forefront of Government agenda and healthcare reform. It is our unique Specialist Generalist expertise that will allow us to continue to deliver holistic person-centred care to people in their own homes.
A crucial part of being prepared and feeling able to deliver this is undoubtedly being well informed, and the QNIS conference highlighted many of the pertinent issues facing community nursing. I particularly enjoyed the Contemporary Issues for Community Nursing presentation. I felt it was an honest account of the difficulties and challenges ahead but also inspired me to want to take a lead role in implementing positive change. As a future Specialist Practitioner District Nurse it will be my responsibility to articulate the importance of our role, to preserve the speciality in an integrated health and social care system. Only by making our collective voice heard will the importance of role be appreciated. The development of the QNIS standards for education and practice will enable a transparent view of the high quality care delivered by community nursing teams by demonstrating the professional attributes and values necessary to fulfil the role, and will hopefully encourage dynamic leaders of the future to specialise in community nursing.
Being trusted by people, their families and carers is the privileged position I find myself in every day. Having a sound knowledge-base is how I am confident in my ability to advise and guide the people I visit. Being able to share evidence-based practice with community-based colleagues has enlightened my clinical practice. Sharing the success stories of the Delivering Dignity projects was definitely a highlight of the QNIS conference for me. As well as sharing the findings to spread good practice it provides inspiration for future projects, which can only enhance future patient care.
The QNIS vision: ‘To promote the delivery of excellent care by nurses working in the community across Scotland’ was truly achieved throughout the annual conference.
Thank you for letting me be part of it.