Happy International Nurses Day!
As we celebrate International Nurses’ Day, we wanted to share some of the work and achievements our Nurse Professional Advisory Group (NPAG) have contributed to in the last year, as well as our aims for the year ahead.
The NPAG team is an active group with involvement in numerous national working groups and Society workstreams. Our contributions have been diverse, ranging from the State of the Art (SOA) Congress 2022; NHSE Adult Critical Care workforce models; UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance workforce working group; CC3N workforce and establishment expert panel; and an HEE “Scrutiny Group” for a pilot project in SW region to explore the role of critical care Trainee Nursing Associates. Our influence in these groups ensures our nursing members are represented and have a voice in the future of critical care nursing.
NPAG members of the Society’s Standards & Guidelines Committee have variously reviewed, co-authored, and provided endorsement for publications such as GPICs v2.1; the Palliative and End of Life Care Information Standard; The transfer of critically ill adults to an outdoor space during end of life care; the Intensive Care Society and British Thoracic Society Guidance on a Model of Care for Specialised Weaning Units; the Critical Care Outreach Practitioner Framework; an HSIB report on the use of an appropriate flush fluid with arterial line, and an HSIB working group investigating the impact of staff fatigue on patient safety and how we manage the risk.
Involvement in the Education Committee also provides us with an opportunity to shape the agendas of SOA, webinars, study days, and podcasts so that they reflect the true multi-professional aspect of intensive care.
Liz Staveacre was one of the key representatives in the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) during 2022 which focused on patients, relatives, and the rehabilitation pathway. The APPG meets regularly with parliamentarians to discuss issues affecting intensive care. This year’s focus is workforce. As Chair of the NPAG, I attended an interactive meeting at Westminster in January with Paul Dean (consultant intensivist and the Society’s elected Honorary Secretary). To set the scene we both gave a presentation related to GPICS standards, compliance and workforce challenges which focused the discussion and raised questions. I would never have imagined sitting in Westminster talking to parliamentarians about our workforce challenges without the support of the Society. Following this APPG meeting, eight parliamentary questions about critical care workforce were tabled at Parliament, a really positive start to the year!
SOA is great fun to be part of and we love the addition of the PAG session which truly embodies the Society’s belief that the multi-professional intensive care team is essential to the delivery of patient care, and each profession should have a voice in shaping the future of our specialty.
Our Podcast last year was really entertaining to make, with lots of laughter during recording. I hope you had the opportunity to listen to us reflecting on our different careers in critical care and intensive care nursing. We represent the many different roles and faces of intensive care including sister, quality improvement, data/audit, nurse consultant, operational delivery network (ODN) manager & lead nurse, senior lecturer, matron, and professor of critical care nursing. Our NPAG has members that sit in other national roles, Liz is the Vice Chair of the National Outreach forum (NOrF), and Graham is the deputy chair of the Critical Care National Network Nurse Leads Forum (CC3N) and previously was co-chair of the national ODN Directors group. These roles further enhance our ability to influence the national direction for intensive care and ensure our message is consistent.
We were also proud to hear the fantastic news that Professor Louise Rose, our deputy chair, was awarded an MBE for Life Lines and services to the NHS during the pandemic. She was also recently elected as the chair of the Society’s Research Division.
It's amazing when you consider how the critical care nursing community and a small collection of like-minded people connected with numerous groups and associations are linked by the Intensive Care Society and a passion for nursing. The re-invention and mandating of the critical care networks in 2013 has made this connection even closer. Within each of the 20 networks across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland there is a lead nurse providing support to all the units within their area. Alongside this, there are several professional membership organisations who have a vested interest in all things critical care.
The UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance (UKCCNA) was formed in 2013 and comprises CC3N; the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Critical Care and In-flight nursing group; the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN); NOrF; the Paediatric Critical Care Society (PCCS); and, of course, the Intensive Care Society’s NPAG. Each professional group and association acts independently under this formidable umbrella. Our NPAG chair and deputy chair attend UKCCNA meetings and, together with a structured mechanism to facilitate collaborative working, we aim to represent the Society, to be proactive and visionary about service requirements and provide quality assurance, enhancing the service, quality of care, patient experience and outcomes.
A major project for the UKCCNA is the Adult Critical Care Registered Nurse Staffing Standards: Restoration & Recovery, which will be presented to NHS England this month. No spoiler alerts except to say that it is ambitious! It aims to reduce variation across the country in terms of RNs per level 3 bed, the proportion of band 5, 6 and 7, and the percentage of staff with a post registration critical care award. This standard could be a significant milestone for critical care nursing.
It's wonderful that our NPAG team interconnects in different roles representing a variety of organisations at different times of the year. This collaborative approach facilitates joined up working preventing silos within each organisation. The camaraderie of critical care ensures a common language and approach and enables critical challenge when things don’t feel right. Intensive and critical care nursing has a strong voice on all the national NHS work streams, delivering a consistent message, especially when discussing nursing workforce standards.
Our aims and ambitions for this year are all about people - our people, our intensive care community. We want to promote intensive care nursing and our multi-professional intensive care team by building on the success of SOA, actively contributing to the different working groups and committees. Work is about to begin on Version 3 of the Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services (GPICS), and I am proud to say that I am the section editor for workforce.
We would love to see an increase in nurse membership in the Society and want to hear from you. Your voice is our voice, and our voice is your voice, and we need to be louder!
Value what you do and add value to what you do by being as encouraging and supportive of ourselves as we would be of others.
Get in touch at communicationsteam@ics.ac.uk
Michaela and our NPAG team, Louise (NPAG deputy Chair), Liz, Graham, Pam, Sarah, Jo-Anne, Gemma, and Debbie.