As we welcome in 2020, we know it is likely to be another extremely busy year for community nursing teams, and there are massive challenges ahead for everyone, not least the perennial shortage of nursing staff across healthcare sectors. Changes leading to uncertainty and complexity are part of the everyday landscape when working in the community setting.
What we can be certain of is that the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) will continue to bring in wholesale changes for all community nursing practitioners over the coming year. For instance, community staff are now working within integrated networks to deliver personalised care in out-of-hospital settings. In order to improve care outside hospital and fulfil the commitment to fully integrate the configuration of community-based health care, we will all need to adapt to new ways of working. These are uncertain times, and we may feel that we do not know how we fit into this new service configuration. We may be sorely tempted to do what we have always done and try to ignore the changes around us by focusing on our busy caseloads and hoping that the new changes will not affect us. However, this would be a mistake, as community nursing services are key providers of care for people in the home setting and are crucial to achieving the primary goal of improving care, particularly for older people. This new year, it is worth considering how each of us can build our own leadership traits, which may support us in embracing new partnerships and ways of working.
Self-awareness and learning how to examine our own strengths and weaknesses is a key attribute for every leader. All of us get caught up in day-to-day business, but it is important to take a step back and reflect. We need to establish ‘reflection hygiene habits’: this would involve finding the right place that is unique and special for us to practise this habit; and set aside 20 minutes every day to be mindful in a quiet place to reflect and think honestly about what we have done and whether this was best for the people we work with and for. Another way of developing self-awareness is by uncovering our ‘blind spots’ and ensuring that we ask others to provide us with honest feedback. We can start this process by compiling a list of people whom we know and can trust to give us this honest feedback. This, ultimately, enables us to develop choices about how we respond or act in different situations.
This issue of the BJCN has an interesting article written by a student and her guides, about how reflective practice led her to provide patient-centred care (pp 16–21). The article describes how reflection helps with practical problem solving. The General Medical Council (GMC) (GMC and Health and Care Professionals Council, 2019) also recommends reflective practice for student nurses as well as registered nurses seeking revalidation, to enhance their practice and help them better understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Self-awareness empowers us to accept and value ourselves. By being aware, weaknesses can be acknowledged and overcome. This will help us to control and limit any negative consequences that we tend to exhibit when we are stressed, tired or simply overwhelmed. We can then celebrate our strengths and use them constructively to our advantage. In this way, we can embrace change and contribute better to patient care.
Nursing is the glue that holds the people we care for together: by accepting ourselves and being compassionate with ourselves, we can forge ahead with new working styles and be proud of who we are.