Main description:

Important changes within the NHS and nursing have taken place over the last fifteen years. The healthcare environment has been transformed and the picture of professional nursing redrawn and sharpened. But how do these changes relate to practising nurses and student nurses at the beginning of their professional practice and what effect will they have on the everyday lives of nurses and their patients? Social Policy for Nurses aims to answer these essential questions, providing the ideal introduction to health policy for nurses at all stages of their careers. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the book provides a comprehensive discussion of the current policy imperatives facing nurses across the UK. The text offers a clear overview of the nature of policy and policy-making, reminding nurses of their ability, and responsibility, to become involved. The importance of learning lessons from the past, both good and bad, is strongly emphasised and the book has helpful chapter summaries, case studies and learning activities to help readers engage with the policies discussed.
The themes explored include: * Working in partnership and empowering the users * Building a healthier nation * Professionalism * Information technology The future for the profession and for a high-quality, collectively provided health service is now very much in the hands of all nurses. This book sets out to inspire the current and future generation of nurses to reflect fully on the influence that health policy has on their profession and daily practice, and on health service provision more generally.

Contents:

Preface List of Figures, Boxes and Tables 1. Introduction 2. Policy and Nursing 3. Reforming the National Health Service: 1948 - 2010 4. Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS 5. Working in Partnership and the Policy Agenda 6. Policy and Technology: A Developing Relationship in the NHS 7. Empowering the Patients and the Public 8. Health Policy: Building a Healthier Nation and Reducing Health Inequalities 9. Working with Diversity and the Policy Agenda 10. Supporting People with Long-Term Conditions: A Policy Perspective 11. Policy and Nurse Professionalism Today: A Threat or a Promise? 12. Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future References Index