Write a commentary where you compare and contrast the purpose of two written texts on the same theme, using examples of features from each of the texts. (Total word limit: 500 words)
Text 1.
What are Compassion in Practice and the 6Cs of nursing?
14 FEBRUARY, 2022 BY STEVE FORD
Here we summarise key nursing policy documents that were intended to set the tone for the profession in England during the 2010s.
Background
Compassion in Practice: Nursing, Midwifery and Care Staff Our Vision and Strategy was a policy document published by NHS England in December 2012. It was developed by Jane Cummings, then chief nursing officer for England, and Viv Bennett, director of nursing at the Department of Health and lead nurse at Public Health England. The three-year strategy set out a shared purpose for nurses, midwives and care staff to deliver high quality, compassionate care, and to achieve excellent health and wellbeing outcomes. It was built, said those behind the document, on the values, pledges and rights set out in the NHS Constitution that patients, the public and staff should and would expect. The strategy, which was not directly backed with government funding, was underpinned by six fundamental values designed to support professionals and care staff to deliver excellent care.
The values were care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment, and became commonly referred to as the “6Cs of nursing”. Each of the six values, which were also backed by six areas of action, carried equal weight and focused on putting patients at the “heart of everything” that nurses do. The aim was for the 6Cs to be universally adopted and embraced by everyone involved in commissioning and delivering care, and, therefore, to be an explicit part of planning guidance.
The 6Cs
The definitions of the 6Cs, as set out in the Compassion in Practice document, were:
Care – Care is our core business and that of our organisations, and the care we deliver helps the individual person and improves the health of the whole community. Caring defines us and our work. People receiving care expect it to be right for them, consistently, throughout every stage of their life.
Compassion – Compassion is how care is given through relationships based on empathy, respect and dignity – it can also be described as intelligent kindness, and is central to how people perceive their care.
Competence – Competence means all those in caring roles must have the ability to understand an individual’s health and social needs and the expertise, clinical and technical knowledge to deliver effective care and treatments based on research and evidence.
Communication – Communication is central to successful caring relationships and to effective team working. Listening is as important as what we say and do and essential for “no decision about me without me”. Communication is the key to a good workplace with benefits for those in our care and staff alike.
Courage – Courage enables us to do the right thing for the people we care for, to speak up when we have concerns and to have the personal strength and vision to innovate and to embrace new ways of working.
Commitment – A commitment to our patients and populations is a cornerstone of what we do. We need to build on our commitment to improve the care and experience of our patients, to take action to make this vision and strategy a reality for all and meet the health, care and support challenges ahead.
Action areas
As well as the focus on developing and communicating the 6Cs, the strategy set out six areas of action where it said nurses could concentrate their effort and create impact for patients.
The action areas, which are explained in detail in the strategy document, were:
1. Helping people to stay independent, maximising well-being and improving health outcomes
2. Working with people to provide a positive experience of care
3. Delivering high quality care and measuring the impact of care
4. Building and strengthening leadership
5. Ensuring we have the right staff, with the right skills, in the right place
6. Supporting positive staff experience
Text 2
What does a nurse do? Can we and should we explain?
17 AUGUST, 2017 BY JENNI MIDDLETON NURSING TIMES
So what is nursing?
It seems to me that no one can really decide whether nurses should diagnose, prescribe and treat, or observe, provide personal care and assistance to patients and service users.
This week former Royal College of Nursing president Dame June Clark demanded that the college and nurses define nursing urgently. Her calls for action came in the wake of a court case in Wales, which showed misunderstandings between the local authority and the NHS about the tasks that should be carried out by a nurse.
In order to save money, the NHS health boards were trying to pass some fundamental nursing and personal care duties to cheaper staff, reducing the need for registered nurses. Dame June, quite rightly, was up in arms. She believes that by allowing others to determine what the profession is and should do, nursing is losing control of its own destiny. I would tend to agree. She complained that the judge in charge of the case repeatedly asked for a definition of nursing, was told there wasn’t one, and suggested the health boards and local councils sort it out between them. “Nurses’ more advanced clinical skills and deeper knowledge mean they do far more than task itself.”
Dame June’s belief is that it is the job of the profession, not health boards or local authorities, to define nursing. This has become even more important with the introduction of new roles – such as the nursing associate – which have the potential to confuse the public, and encroach on the domain of the registered nurse.
Concerns have been raised – and compounded by this court case – that such new nursing roles could remove the need for registered nurses to provide fundamental care, such as helping patients with washing, dressing, eating and drinking. While these may seem ‘easy’ or ‘basic’ jobs that could be done by anyone, nurses’ more advanced clinical skills and deeper knowledge mean they do far more than task itself.
These interventions give nurses an opportunity to observe their patients and assess their health and wellbeing. For example, when washing their patients can check the condition of their skin and ensure they are not at risk of pressure damage. When helping them to dress, they can chat and assess patients’ mental state. And experienced nurses often recognise subtle signs a patient is deteriorating before that patient’s vital signs are altered. “Washing a patient requires skill and patience… it’s not just giving someone a rub with a flannel.”
The care provided by nurses is not a set of tasks done in isolation, to be ticked off and handed out to any pair of hands. This is a role that takes a holistic view of a complex situation, and nurses can make a huge contribution with every interaction they have with their patients. I fear that, by trying to make nurses work ‘to the top of licence’, as I have heard many times during the nursing associate debate, we will put patients at risk by denying them access to a crucial set of skills and knowledge.
Nursing care can be provided by a relative or an unregistered healthcare support worker, as well as a nurse.
But what differentiates the care provided by a registered nurse from the care they can provide is the clinical judgement and expertise that will inform decision making about that care. Washing a patient requires skill, patience, an ability to assess, communicate, evaluate and treat – it is not just giving someone a rub with a flannel. So we should be clear that nursing is a skilled profession, and not a series of tasks that can be offloaded to a cheaper substitute.
Guidance:
Start your commentary with a summary of what you think the purpose of each of the texts is. Once you have set out the purpose, you will be able to compare and contrast how you are able to identify this purpose using features of the texts.
Features of the text that can be used to identify the purpose:
• The main ideas set out in the text
• Where the text has been published – who is it intended for?
• The format chosen by the writer (e.g. article, report, blog, essay)
• The tone, formality and complexity of the writing style
• Stylistic features (e.g. sentence structure for emphasis, imagery, assumption, suggestion, irony, sarcasm, allusion, metaphor, simile, inference, symbolic representation, statistical representation)
• In-text features (e.g. headings, images, changes in font, paragraphing structures, use of quotations, openings and endings of sections, referencing)
You should include examples or short quotes from the texts to support your points.
