Nursing in Practice May/June 2020 (issue 114) | Page 22

12 COVER STORY have put extra strain on school nurses. She estimates that about a third of school nurses have been redeployed to other areas of the health service during the coronavirus. She also believes school nurse numbers must increase, as they will be crucial to tackling the ‘secondary impact’ of the coronavirus crisis. ‘I’m hoping that school nursing will be recognised as crucial in future public health funding,’ says Ms White. ‘We know that whenever we exit from here, our referrals to social care, to hospitals, to GPs, to mental health services are going to go through the roof,’ she cautions. ‘We also know that lots of poorly children are not presenting at GPs and hospitals when they should.’ This will mean a surge of children who are unwell presenting at GPs after the crisis, Ms White says. Catalyst for change But Marilyn Eveleigh, a nurse consultant and independent trainer, is more positive, believing the status of nursing has ‘reached meteoric heights in the public’s mind’, which should ‘stimulate enrolments to training’. ‘Along with a rise in the status of homecare staff, I suspect there will be a public endorsement for improved remuneration of nurses and social care workers,’ she suggests. Professor Beresford is also hopeful: ‘Because of the issues we have seen with Covid-19, you’d think the underlying problems in social care would be addressed in the future – and that is my hope, though it is not my certainty. I want something good to come out of this terrible situation.’ Carolyn Doyle, community nursing and end-of-life care professional lead at the Royal College of Nursing, thinks the coronavirus crisis might improve people’s perception of community nurses. It has shown, she says, ‘that with our backs against the wall, we can work really well for the benefit of our patients’. She continues: ‘Everything has been focused on acute care, but community nursing has been central to tackling the outbreak. We were disadvantaged with staffing numbers, but we have pulled out all the stops.’ Nursi in the commu has bee central tackling outbrea We wer hampe with staffing numbe but hav pulled o all the s A virtual future General practice nurses have also seen a huge shift in the way they carry out their jobs. (See From the front line, page 30, and commentaries page 18 and page 20.) Only essential contact appointments – such as antenatal visits, baby vaccinations and wound care – remain in most practices. Long-term condition reviews, cytology and travel immunisations have been reduced or stopped altogether. However, the epidemic does appear to have spurred changes that many had wanted for years. Marie Therese Massey, RCN GPN professional lead, says ‘there is no going back’. She believes that many of the changes that ensued as a result of the pandemic will stick. ‘When life begins to return to normal and we have time to reflect, we’ll need to take a long hard look at what went well, what worked for the patient and clinician, and what didn’t work for either party. This is a real opportunity for practice nurses to make the changes that are required to improve patient care and challenge the old ways of working.’ Ms Massey believes virtual consultations are likely to stay, with most appointments being done that way now – ‘and successfully, in most cases, evidence suggests,’ she says. Ms Eveleigh agrees: ‘Using technology during the pandemic to manage routine services has been monumental – it will change the way we work. Nursing IT skills will likely become a core requirement of efficient, safe practice, especially for practice nurses and others in non-acute settings.’ nursinginpractice.com May/June 2020