The power of practice nursing to galvanise the system
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many changes in the work of GPNs. Gill Rogers and colleagues created a series of 10 podcasts to showcase the possibilities of a GPN career
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an overnight change to the work of general practice nurses (GPNs), as care shifted from face-to-face to the virtual environment. GPNs adapted rapidly to this new and challenging environment. At the same time, the system was still dealing with familiar, pre-existing challenges: how to recruit and keep GPNs? How to attract future nurses to the role? London Region, where most practices report problems recruiting nurses, and where 50% of the workforce is aged over 50, responded with a number of initiatives. These included a series of podcasts, designed to highlight the diversity of general practice nursing, and the value of GPNs in the primary care workforce.
The idea for the podcasts came from meetings set up early in the pandemic, which brought together a group of GPN leads across the capital. The aim was to collaborate on ways to share good practice, offer support, feedback information to the appropriate departments and pass on regional guidance on the pandemic. However, the group was also hearing concerns from some nurses about employment issues – sick pay, talk of redundancy and furlough, lack of support for those who were shielding.
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