Nursing & Midwifery Profession in Ireland

Visioning the Future

““Imagine”Imagine”

Dr. Michael ShannonHealth Service Executive

Past Present and Future

Past is Important

Present is Reality

Future is Significant

The Past

The Present • Quality and Fairness: A Health System for You (2001a) • Primary Care: A New Direction (2001b) • A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland (2006a) • A Vision for Change - Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy

(2006b) • Tackling Chronic Disease - A Policy Framework for the Management of

Chronic Diseases (2008a) • Report of the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance (2008b) • Changing Cardiovascular Health: National Cardiovascular Strategy 2012-

2019 (2010a) • Strategic Framework for Role Expansion for Nursing and Midwifery (2011a) • A Strategy for Community Inclusion (HSE 2011a) • The Nurses and Midwives Act 2011 • HIQA National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare (2012)

The Future

““Imagine”Imagine”

??

Healthy Ireland

Aim & Principles of Reform To help people remain healthy and to provide effective safe high quality

healthcare and personal social services to the people of Ireland(Future Health, Nov 2012)

Keeping People Healthy

Empowerment

Equity

Patient-centredness

Efficiency and Effectiveness

Regulation and Patient Safety

Quality

*Money Follows the Patient Document- governance loop DOH website

NEW ISA AREAS

Completely Transform Our Health System

“When one door closes another door opens but we so often look so long and so

regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922);

Future

Health Context• Shrinking Economy• Shrinking Health Budget• Health Reforms• HIQA• Croake Park - PSA• Governance• Performance Management

However, our overriding objectives currently and for the future must be:

• To put patients first and provide high quality, safe patient care• Strive, demonstrate and assure excellence in nursing and midwifery care

These will and have to continue to be a central pillar of our future health system

It is critical that: Nursing & Midwifery, Educationalists and Policy Makers engage in the

process of change that is happening in the Irish Healthcare System Ensure that Nursing and Midwifery clarify their roles and positions within

the changing health service structures

Why bother with the Future?

“The future belongs to the unreasonable ones, the ones who look forward not backward, who are certain only of uncertainty, and who have the ability and the confidence to think completely differently”

Charles Handy quoting Bernard Shaw

Nursing & Midwifery

Challenging Perspectives

Nurses and midwives are probably as fearful about what the future holds in store for them now like never before!

How should patients/clients be cared for?How much nursing and midwifery care should be

provided?Who should the care providers be?What should our nursing and midwifery workforce

look like?What then is nursing and midwifery care?What are the cost implications?How do we provide assurance?How do instil public confidence?How do we ensure key partners with other

professionals?

Future Nursing and Midwifery Leadership We need to be proud of our clinical and

operational focus We need to look at nursing & midwifery in the context of health policy and planning

We need to form real partnerships between health services, communities and public

We need to be concerned with both bottom-up and top - down leadership

We need to be able to differentiate debate from dissent and disagreement from disunity

We need to function in effective teams We need to ensure clear governance structures

Strategic Focus

The nursing and midwifery profession in Ireland must keep pace with a rapidly changing environment where patient safety, satisfaction, quality and efficiency are equal priorities

Leadership development, innovation and creativity are key ingredients to facilitating the development of the profession

Governance, role clarity, role expansion and skill mix are pivotal drivers for success

Key Performance/ Business Management Indicators

These “ingredients” will enhance patient care through the leadership of the nursing and midwifery profession over the next 5 years

Future Key Messages

1. Nurses and Midwives are at the front line in ensuring that care is delivered safely, effectively, and compassionately – NEVER FORGET

2. Grasp the opportunities to lead the nursing and midwifery profession in the improvement and redesign of the health care system and its practice environment

3. Nurses and Midwives should practice to the full extent of their education and training

Future Key Messages

4. Nurses and Midwives should achieve higher levels of education and training through education system that promotes seamless academic progression

5. Nurses and Midwives should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care reform

6. Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure

What will Survive as Healthcare Changes

1. Putting patients first

2. Clear ethical values

3. Being clear about our mission

4. Robust governance

5. Constantly trying to improve

6. Basing what we do on evidence

7. Clinical Leadership

8. Learning and professional development

Conclusion“We need nursing and midwifery traditions not only to know whom

we are

but to know who we can become”.

Nursing and midwifery has and should continue to take a strong and active leadership role in

current and future health care deliveryBUT• We need to re-think and be CONSISTENTLY

CLEAR what our Nursing and Midwifery leaders might look like and who they might be

• The profession must keep pace with a rapidly changing environment where patient safety, satisfaction, quality and efficiency are equal priorities

• Leadership development, innovation and creativity are key ingredients to facilitating the development of the profession in the future

• Governance, role clarity, role expansion and skill mix are pivotal drivers for success

• These “ingredients” will enhance patient care through the leadership of the nursing and midwifery profession over the next 5 years

The Florence Nightingale Foundation

“ For us who nurse, our nursing is a thing, which, unless we are making progress every year, every month, every week, take my word for it, we are going back”

Thank You