The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has published a major national survey of District Nurse Team Leaders.
Over 1500 District Nurse team leaders from across the UK, including 145 from Scotland, contributed to the report through an online survey undertaken in 2023. The survey makes extensive comparison with data gathered in 2019, illustrating trends in the workforce since the Covid-19 pandemic. The report focuses on the demographic profile of the workforce, working practices and technology, education and professional development, and capacity in nursing teams. The analysis of the survey was overseen by Professor Alison Leary MBE, Director of the QNI’s International Community Nursing Observatory (ICNO).
The report shows that District Nurse team leaders are carrying more responsibility than ever before, and this is increasingly reflected in the role being paid at Band 7 on the Agenda for Change scale.
It also reveals that team leaders are responding to the increased complexity of their work by developing their knowledge, skills and qualifications when they have the opportunity. Team leaders are becoming more experienced and developing more advanced nursing skills in response to the greater level of complexity in the people they serve. More nurses now have the District Nurse Specialist Practitioner Qualification, a prescribing qualification, and an Advanced Clinical Assessment qualification.
However, the report shows that District Nursing services remain critically under-resourced, with multiple indicators that teams are struggling with capacity.
You can read the report here.
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