Nurse-led care: The importance of management support

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the importance of proper management planning and support to underpin the provision of nurse-led care. The author's record of research in this field has left her with a lasting impression that nurse-led services often fail to reach their full potential, at least in part because of inadequate management. The main body of the paper consists of a brief account of a Department of Health-funded project, Exploring New Roles in Practice (ENRiP). In this three-stage study, members of the teams undertook a mapping exercise in a 20% sample of acute trusts throughout England to identify the emerging range and purpose of new roles for nurses and members of the professions allied to medicine (PAMs). The resulting database provided the sampling frame for 32 case studies to clarify the range of issues relating to the introduction of new roles. The database in its entirety also provided the population for a survey designed to establish the generalisability of the conclusions emerging from Stages One and Two. The research findings provided evidence on which to base a guidance document encapsulating the lessons learned during the project. The implications of its findings for management of nurse-led services are discussed and compared with advice given by the author in 1995 in the report Catching the Tide.