Nursing ambassador shares experiences at Parliament

A nursing academic from Teesside University was among representatives invited to share their experiences as a practitioner at a special event in Parliament.

Dominic Simpson joined speakers invited by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) as part of their campaign calling for legislation to make the Secretary of State accountable for nurse staffing levels in England. The RCN representatives spoke to MPs and shared their own personal experiences of delivering care in hospitals, care homes and community settings. Issues highlighted included the need to ensure patients receive safe and effective care, staff retention and recruitment.

Dominic, a lecturer in adult nursing and PhD student in the University’s School of Health & Social Care, also works as a critical care nurse in Newcastle. His PhD research examines how unfilled nursing posts put pressure on nursing staff and nursing students.

He said: 'There are thousands of vacancies across the public health, social care and the independent sector. Having the right number of registered nurses with the right knowledge, skills and experience is critical to the delivery of safe and effective care.

'It is a national problem with this event helping to provide a local perspective in enabling MPs to understand how their constituents are affected.'

He added: 'Although MPs we spoke to were aware of the statistics and pressures which staff are under, it important for experiences to be heard in order for the MPs to understand the impact. There is a lot of power in the narrative.'

Dominic, who was one of five representatives from the Northern region, added: 'As the only clinical academic from the region I was able to combine that narrative of lived experience with research findings.

'I was invited to share my research, knowledge and expertise in organisational culture, as well as representing student nurses and to talk about their experiences.'

More than 100 MPs attended the lobbying event. Find out more about Dominic’s research or and his involvement in the RCN #safestaffingsaveslives campaign follow him on Twitter @NurseDomSimpson.

---