Strategy aims to strengthen role of nurses & midwives across health service
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar joined the Chief Nursing Officer Dr Siobhan O’Halloran today to launch her office’s Strategy for 2015–2017 along with an initiative on Nursing and Midwifery Values.
The Strategy of the Office of the chief Nursing Officer is to ensure a broad understanding of the role of the CNO’s Office across Government, and its role in developing health policy.
The Strategy sets out the Vision, Mission and Values for the Office. It also highlights the Office’s Strategic Objectives until end 2017, as follows:
1. To provide expert policy input and direction to support government priorities and to optimise public investment in the health system;
2. To strengthen the role of nurses and midwives to optimise the scope of practice across the health service;
3. To enhance the impact Impact refers to productivity, stability, capacity and capability. of nurses and midwives and demonstrate this through the utilisation of robust data intelligence;
4. To enable nurses and midwives to serve as full partners in health care design and improvement by enhancing leadership, competency and opportunities.
The success of the Office, at the end of 2017, will be measured in part by the achievement of these objectives.
In addition, a communication and consultation initiative to affirm the values that underpin nursing and midwifery practice has been developed. The goal is to ensure that the values of care, compassion, and competence are reinforced in nursing and midwifery practice and culture across all settings. The initiative will involve extensive consultation with stakeholders and will develop a repository of good practice.
This will help the nursing and midwifery professions contribute to a culture of safe patient care.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
1. In 2013, the Department of Health appointed Dr Siobhan O’Halloran as its first Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Assistant Secretary level. This appointment is designed to ensure that a nursing and midwifery perspective is brought to bear on the development of policy.
2. The Office of the CNO plays an important strategic and leadership role and provides professional policy direction and evidence based advice in relation to nursing and midwifery. The Office is built on a partnership model, with clinicians and civil servants working together to develop policy.
3. The CNO is supported by specialist nursing and midwifery expertise from three Deputy CNOs. The three general areas for which the Deputy CNOs currently have respective responsibility are (i) Women’s Health, Child Health and Welfare, and Primary Care Services; (ii) Nursing and Midwifery Policy and Legislation; and (iii) Clinical Governance and Practice.
4. The first full year of the Office’s existence was 2015.