Health Minister launches Nursing & Midwifery Leadership Toolkit and Mental Health Nursing Model
Date published:
Health Minister Robbie Butler has formally launched two nursing and midwifery initiatives aimed at supporting the wider programme of reform underway across Health and Social Care.
The Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Toolkit has been developed to support nurses and midwives leading operational teams, providing accessible guidance, resources and tools to strengthen leadership capability and confidence.
It will help to ensure the workforce is equipped to deliver safe, high-quality, person-centred care now and into the future.
The Minister also published the Mental Health Nursing Model: Partnering for Wellbeing and Enabling Recovery, which sets out a vision for the future contribution of mental health nursing within an evolving HSC system. It places mental health nursing at the heart of neighbourhood-based, person-centred services provided closer to home.
Both initiatives were launched at this year’s Chief Nursing Officer Conference.
The Minister said:
“As we gather under the theme "Reset, Reform, Reimagine: Nursing and Midwifery Leadership for a Sustainable HSC", I want to acknowledge the enormous contribution of nurses and midwives to building a sustainable Health and Social Care system for Northern Ireland.
“Today is an opportunity not only to celebrate your contribution but also to reflect on the future and the critical role each of you will play in shaping it.
“With demand and expectations rising, and workforce and financial pressures posing significant challenges, we need to ask important questions about how and where we deliver care.
“The challenge for all of us is to improve and transform services while remaining true to the values that brought us into public service in the first place. In that context, the voice and role of nursing and midwifery is crucial.”
The conference welcomed approximately 250 attendees, primarily made up of nurses and midwives, from across the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care sector.
Professor Maria McIlgorm, Chief Nursing Officer, said nursing and midwifery were uniquely placed to lead transformation.
“Today there are over 30,000 nurses and midwives registered in Northern Ireland. As the largest professional workforce within health and social care, our influence extends far beyond direct patient care,” Prof McIlgorm said.
“We influence policy, lead services, support education, contribute to research, drive innovation and shape the experiences of patients and families across the system.
“That is why I often say that nursing and midwifery are not simply contributors to reform, we lead it.”
Notes to editors:
- Photo caption: Minister Butler and CNO Prof Maria McIlgorm
- The Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Toolkit is a digital resource which can be regularly updated and enhanced, ensuring leaders have access to the most current guidance, best practice, learning resources and policy developments. It can be accessed here: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/band-7-nursing-and-midwifery-leadership-toolkit
- The Mental Health Nursing Model: Partnering for Wellbeing and Enabling Recovery has been developed through extensive engagement with mental health nurses, student nurses, people with lived experience, education partners and system leaders. It highlights both the strengths of the profession and the challenges that must be addressed to meet future population needs. It can be read in full here: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/mental-health-nursing-partnering-wellbeing-and-enabling-recovery
- The Registered Nurse Learning Disability (RNLD) Career Pathway was also launched at the conference. It supports our wider commitment to improving equity of access and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. It can be read in full here: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/career-pathway-registered-nurses
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