A policy perspective on workforce pressures and retention in district nursing

The current healthcare landscape represents the vision to provide care closer to home in a more comprehensive way than ever before. However, with the existing workforce challenges within district nursing workforce and the shortfall in nurses, pressures on community-based services are expected to increase as they strive to meet this additional demand. The author explores contemporary issues related to recruitment and retention through the lens of existing government policy, which aims to address increasing caseloads, realignment of services, staff turnover and burnout and consider some of the potential solutions.