BBCNurses’ views should be taken into account when health services for the Channel Islands are planned, a visiting union leader has said.
Nicola Ranger, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), has visited Jersey and Guernsey to discuss the future of nursing.
The RCN said the visit would “help shape” its “ongoing advocacy and support for members working in diverse healthcare settings”.
Ms Ranger said it was “vital” for nurses to sit in during senior meetings to help with planning for health services.
She said: “I think in the planning sometimes we can be seen as the doers, not the thinkers.
“We need to be there in planning of services, whatever setting, and it’s absolutely vital that nursing is a key part of any patient journey and care.
“I think that’s vital in those very senior meetings when you’re planning services.”
‘Valued’
Ms Ranger said her meeting with Jersey’s Health Minister Deputy Tom Binet had been positive.
She said: “One of my key messages to him, and it was very well received, is whatever setting you are – whether it’s hospital, community, hospice – nurses are the largest workforce.
“We have to be brilliant, we have to be cared for and we have to be valued in order for patients in every setting to be well looked after.
“I feel that message was really heard.”
