Community nursing innovation programme evaluated
The Queen’s Nursing Institute has published a new evaluation of its Community Nursing Innovation Programme.
The Community Nursing Innovation Programme (CNIP) supports community nurses to create and lead projects that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of specific groups of people in their local communities.
The CNIP was previously evaluated in the independent report, ‘Rising Stars’ (QNI, 2015). The new evaluation covered the period 2014 to 2022 and sought to answer the following questions about the programme:
What was the impact on the individuals, families, carers and communities involved?
What was the impact on the personal and professional development of the project leaders?
All projects that responded to the survey wholly met or partly met their objectives. All projects had varied positive impacts, including outcomes that align with national priorities from the NHS long term plan – personalisation of care, increased care delivered in the home, reduced hospital admissions, and increased digitisation.
Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, the QNI’s Chief Executive said: “This new evaluation provides the clearest evidence yet of the impact of the QNI’s innovation programme.
“The track record of consistent success over a number of years shows how the programme has continued to grow and develop.
“All the project leaders should be congratulated on their outstanding work. The benefits to individuals, families and communities served and to nurses are huge and I hope many more nurses and their teams will be supported by their employers to undertake a project in their area.”
Sixty-seven per cent of the projects continued to run beyond the original project year – for example many were commissioned within mainstream services. This is consistent with the Rising Stars report, where the figure was 65 per cent.
Half of those who responded said that their project had been put forward for an award – including national awards and regional awards by healthcare trusts.
Of these, half were successful in winning an award. This, and the number of projects that publish articles about their achievements, has led to dissemination of new ways of working far beyond the initial project scope.
All project leads gave examples of at least one way in which the programme contributed to their professional development; the most common examples were developing new skills and improving confidence.
To read the evaluation, click here