District Nursing SPQ Report

The Specialist Practitioner Qualification (SPQ) in District Nursing is critical to effective team leadership and caseload management.

However, the value of the qualification is not always clearly understood  by those who do not have first hand knowledge of District Nursing. This report aims to demonstrate the value of the qualification.

The report, written by Queen’s Nurse Candice Pellett OBE and funded by the Department of Health, is based on a series of focus groups with Queen’s Nurses, nurse educators and students, an online survey, as well as literature search and data analysis.

The report identifies key themes that emerged during the information gathering and subsequent analysis. These themes include direct benefits to patient care, personal and professional development, benefit to employing organisations, and cost savings.

One of the most important points emerging from the report is the complexity and high quality of nursing care delivered by District Nurses in the community today. Advances in healthcare technology and the ability to deliver more care in the community mean that today’s District Nurse must possess an incredibly broad range of skills, and a very high level of skill and expertise.

The District Nursing SPQ is the best preparation for a nurse working in the community to deliver holistic care, managing complex caseloads, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and promoting patient comfort and safety.