Mind the (skills) gap

Primary and community nurses care for people across their life span from birth to death. They help to treat and manage a plethora of conditions and so the profession’s training needs are very broad. Anne Pearson, director of programmes at the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), says that ‘a lot is being done to support nurses’ training’.

‘Most Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will have a nurse lead to support nurses, and Health Education England (HEE) is also providing training,’ she says. And the picture of nurse training in general practice is positive judging by responses to a national survey of GPNs in 2015. The QNI’s national survey ‘General Practice Nursing: A Time Of Opportunity in the 21st Century’ was required to provide the organisation with robust evidence to support its ongoing campaign for excellence in nursing in the community and primary care.