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Published by the King’s Fund on 10 April 2010, this report details how nurse executives and their boards work together in six NHS trusts (four acute hospitals and two mental health trusts) in England. It represents the second phase of a programme of work carried out in partnership with the Burdett Trust for Nursing to support nurse executives and NHS trusts in ‘bring[ing] the ward to the board’. It builds on the themes that emerged from the pilot phase of the programme.
Quality of clinical care is an issue for the whole board. The programme focuses on the interplay between the nurse executive and the board. As leaders of the largest part of the health workforce, nurse executives have unrivalled influence over patients’ experiences of care. This, combined with a broad portfolio of responsibilities that usually includes clinical quality and governance, makes the nurse executive role vital in bridging the link between the patient on the ward and the boardroom.
The approach taken includes: observing boards in action; giving them real-time feedback on their discussions, as well as their relationships and processes; coaching nurse executives; and providing nurse executives at each site with a development grant.