Nurses must stop holding on to job titles and move forward to deliver more holistic care, say practice nurse leaders.
In a fringe event at the RCN Congress on 23 June, four practice nursing leaders debated whether the NHS was ready for a community nurse that covers all areas, or whether to continue with defined roles, such as practice nurses and community nurses.
Debbie Brown, practice nurse and member of the RCN's practice nurse association member, said that the NHS cannot continue running the way it has and needs to move forward. 'There are so many different levels of nurses from healthcare assistants to practice nurses, to community nurses, and patients are often confused about who is delivering care. Perhaps we need to move towards having fewer job titles and focus more on delivering individual care for patients.'
Karen Storey, the primary care lead nurse at Health Education West Midlands, agreed. 'The hybrid role can work around the traditional general practice setting but can be more responsive to a patients needs.'
Ms Storey also says that this is about changing the way education is provided for nurses.
However, Marie Therese Massey, chair of the practice nurse association, argued that nurses should maintain their individual job titles. 'Patients know who we are and why we do it, so why should we mix things up.'
The debate was then opened to the floor with a few nurses introducing other ideas, such as changing the scope of general practice as a whole. Nurses from the four UK countries also discussed the state of community nursing in their respective countries.