Leading to Care – Who are we if we can’t care?
All staff within our care homes need to have the ability to care, the desire to care is not enough, staff need to be enabled to care. As we look ahead, we must understand how care can be compromised. It’s not just about the number of staff available each shift to provide care but the skill mix, the expertise, the skills staff have to allow them to care they way they need and want to. Intrinsic to this is that nurses and care staff provide care underpinned by dignity, humanity and equality.
We need a future where we have leadership at all levels, where kindness is at the heart of everything we do for those residents who rely on being cared for as well, as our staff who must also feel secure, valued to provide care. Staff must have a voice and be listened too and only then will we have a workforce that can have the tools to care through safe staffing, helping enhance the lives of the people they care for. Then care can be compassionate, not a practical responsibility, it will ensure relationships are re-established, the family of care staff are reunited, and the home is restored.
Care is multi-dimensional, it’s about showing empathy, being responsible but most of all it should be about enhancing lives. It should be a constant in everything we do, not a fleeting gesture. It should embody everything.
Looking forward we want a workforce that is not only satisfied by the care they provide but see the visible changes it makes to residents. Being outcomes focused is the key, shape care around what matters to people not a predetermined output.
You will know it’s been achieved when you see smiles, hear laughter and witness a caring physical embrace. Often care needs no words. So, let’s all look towards a future where we invest in care by investing in our nurses and care staff.
There is no forever?
Then maybe that is why it is so beautiful.
Knowing our time is limited
and all we have is now
is more than enough reason we need
to exhibit love at its most radical.
———————writings of M.
Jacqui Neil
Transforming Workforce Lead for Nursing
@TransformNurse
