'Urgent action' needed on nursing setup

Published on Thursday 2 April 2009 09:52

THE Scottish Government has five years to "reinvigorate" the community nursing setup, an Edinburgh-based nursing union has warned.

Citing the fact that a third of community nurses will retire within the next decade, the Royal College of Nursing said urgent action was required.

An increased emphasis is being placed on community nursing, it said, and the overall nursing framework needs to be overhauled.

The organisation has published a document which includes the views of 700 nurses, health care professionals and patients, which calls for community nursing to be split in two, separating care for adults and children.

More focus also must be placed on local needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, the paper said.

Theresa Fyffe, RCN Scotland's director, said: "Given that we have ten years before 30 per cent of the profession is due to retire, we realistically have five to seven years to reinvigorate the community nursing workforce in Scotland.

"Now is the time for community nurses across Scotland to find the common ground, and the reserves of energy, needed to build sustainably for the future."