Promoting health and wellbeing across community nursing teams: role of the specialist practitioner district nurse

Abstract

There is a growing concern around the health and wellbeing of community nurses due to the high complexities of and demand on district nursing services. It is well recognised that district nursing services have no limits to their capacity, and they have been dealing with an increasing caseload, with no increases in resources or staff. Consequently, this has left community nurses feeling exhausted and experiencing burnout, which, in the long term, can lead to compassion fatigue, which can in turn compromise patient safety. Specialist practitioner qualified district nurses (SPQDN) require the skills and knowledge to promote health and wellbeing, in order to provide a positive work environment and limit work-related stress and burnout despite the challenges encountered. This article explores possible strategies to promote health and wellbeing among community nurses and the barriers that SPQDNs encounter in doing so.