‘The Lighthouse Invites the Storm’ – Professional Regulation of Nursing in England and Wales – Under Threat

Abstract

This paper explores current issues related to the professional regulation of nursing in England and Wales and considers whether self-regulation is currently under threat.

The Arms of the Infinite? The Liability of Mental Health Professionals for the Violent Acts of their Patient

“…The mental health practitioner role has expanded and the increased professional autonomy brings increased legal risk (Young 2009b;Young 2010). A proactive and robust approach to managing that risk is required.…”

A structured policy review of the principles of professional self‐regulation

“…To maintain public, governmental and professional trust, regulatory systems must be effective in achieving their desired aims. Otherwise, they will be viewed as failing to meet the social contract agreed with the profession (Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence ; Salter ; Young ).…”

Response to Boris LL (2010) Commentary on Young A (2009) The legal duty of care for nurses and other healthcare professionals. Journal of Clinical Nursing18, 3071–3078

“…Nurse professionalism has received significant attention over the past few years (Fullbrook 2008a, Peate 2008, Young 2008, 2009) and will probably receive more in the future now that the UK Government has announced that all new nurses in England from 2013 will have to be educated to degree level (Department of Health 2009).…”

“…These changes and others have led to a broad re‐examination of the nature and meaning of health professionalism, what it means to be a nurse practitioner in today’s society and culture, and the dynamic of the therapeutic alliance. Several articles that have been recently published and helped advance the current debate and discussion in this area (Fullbrook 2008a,b, Young 2009). The reason for this renewed interest generally varies by specific situation and locale.…”

“…In 2007 the UK Department of Health published a White Paper Trust, Assurance and Safety: the Regulation of Health Professionals (Department of Health 2007). This engendered much discussion (Fullbrook 2008a,b, Young 2009) and the reaction to the concepts it proposes has been both positive and negative. The essential premise of this document is that standards need to be raised in relation to professional practice and there needs to be closer scrutiny of healthcare.…”