Consultation on QNI Field Specific Standards – Phase Two

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has published draft Standards for three further specialisms in community nursing.

The three draft Standards apply to education and practice in the following Fields of Practice:

• Health and Justice Nursing FSS draft
• Community Palliative and End of Life Care Nursing FSS draft
• Community Learning Disability Nursing FSS draft

The Standards are available for consultation until 9^th November 2023. The QNI particularly invites the views of those currently commissioning or delivering Specialist Practitioner Qualification (SPQ) programmes, and those considering introducing new programmes.

We realise there is a considerable amount of text to review, so please do pay particular attention to whichever field of practice you may be commissioning or planning to develop within the HEI sector. For those of you who may be clinicians but not in a commissioning/education role, please do read those standards that relate to your field of practice and complete the survey as appropriate.

To respond to the consultation, go to: https://eu.surveymonkey.com/r/GZHT9GM

The QNI has worked with representatives from health and social care organisations from the four countries of the UK to develop the Standards. These representatives include national organisations, academics, managers, clinicians, front line staff, and service users/patients/experts by experience/carers/families.

Notes to Editors

Further background to the QNI standards work can be found on the QNI website: https://qni.org.uk/nursing-in-the-community/standards/consultation-on-qni-field-specific-standards/

The QNI Field Specific Standards have been built on the NMC SPQ standards (NMC 2022). They are mapped to the four Pillars of Advanced Practice (NHS 2007, NHS 2017). The four pillars of advanced practice as described by the Health Education England Advanced Practice Toolkit Framework are:

• Domain 1 – Clinical Care
• Domain 2 – Leadership and Management
• Domain 3 – Education and Assessing Learning
• Domain 4 – Evidence, Research and Development.

The International Council of Nurses defines an advanced nurse practitioner as a registered nurse with the expert knowledge, complex decision-making skills, and clinical competencies necessary for expanded practice.

Nurses working as a Specialist Practitioner work independently and autonomously in situations that are complex and challenging. They will follow an individual’s* trajectory in dealing with co-morbidities, co-occurring conditions and medicines management promoting a person-centred approach using advanced clinical decision-making skills based on a holistic bio-psychosocial perspective. They will role model leadership values and behaviours within teams of regulated and non-regulated staff and work with senior leaders of organisations to implement policy, working within legislative boundaries in their workplace. They demonstrate an in depth understanding of operational and financial issues within their organisation and acknowledge how this may impact on advanced clinical assessment of individuals*. They are highly skilled in complex risk assessments, risk formulations and risk management and will be comfortable advocating for people in their care and the services they work in and with. They are innovators in practice promoting evidence-based practice, innovation, and creativity to improve the quality of outcomes for the individual* they are caring for.

*Patient, child, resident, client, carer, family members.