The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has launched a new set of standards designed to help the mental health and wellbeing of nurses.
The standards are part of the RCN’s professional nurse advocate (PNA) programme, which was launched by NHS England in March 2021 as a response to the intense work-based stress, burnout and mental wellbeing challenges being faced by the nursing workforce at that time.
The programme intends to provide senior nurses with the skills to listen and understand the challenges and demands of fellow colleagues.
The standards comprise a framework for the delivery of education generally, mapped to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s existing framework for nursing and midwifery education, and a framework for training programmes and modules being delivered by education institutions and employers.
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RCN deputy director of nursing: education, research and ethics Dr Nicola Ashby said: “Protecting the mental health and wellbeing of the nursing workforce has never been so critical, and these new standards are a vital part of this process.
“The Professional Nurse Advocate Programme has already had incredible uptake across England, and these standards will give assurance that quality is maintained wherever this training is delivered.
“They will also help to inspire continuous improvement and enable nursing staff in all positions to innovate and improve practice.”
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Emma Wadey, head of mental health nursing at NHS England, added that the standards “will ensure consistent delivery and quality of the programme going forward.”
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, a report by SOM, the RCN Foundation and Birkbeck, University of London, concluded that nurses and midwives are at considerable risk of stress, burnout and poor mental health because of the demands of their role and linked factors including staffing shortages and resourcing issues.
