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They were developed in collaboration with the QNI Care Home Nurse Network and focus mainly on care homes for older residents who require nursing care.
Sharon Aldridge-Bent, director of nursing programmes (leadership) at the QNI, who leads the care home nurse programme of work, said: There has been a realisation across the health and care sector that nursing staff working in care homes support a unique area of practice and a very high level of responsibility in delivering care in settings that are complex and can involve multiple issues of physical and mental health dependency among residents.
Sharon Aldridge-Bent
“This has been brought into even sharper focus by the pandemic and we have seen a greater focus on care homes than ever before in the past year.
It affects people of all ages and backgrounds regardless of whether they were initially hospitalised, and there is concern that nurses could be more affected than the general population.
Longer term impacts include shortness of breath, fatigue and problems involving the heart, lungs, kidneys, nervous system, muscles and joints.
Commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the new QNI resource is called ‘Living with Covid-19 (Long Covid) and Beyond’.
The guidance provides information to support nurses working in the community, care homes and primary care as well as the wider multi-disciplinary team including around clinical knowledge, care responses and skills when caring for people during their recovery and rehabilitation.