References
Caseload management: a district nursing challenge
Abstract
The district nurse is accountable for the standard of nursing care that is delivered by the team they lead. One of the key challenges in ensuring the provision of a high standard of care is effective caseload management, and caseload management is a core component of the district nursing role. This article highlights the strategic drivers behind community care, outlines the challenges that impact effective caseload management and discusses why effective caseload management is significant in the delivery of community care. It also explores the delegation of workload, triaging referrals, caseload analysis and clinical supervision as methods that the district nurse can use to overcome and manage the challenges that caseload management can present.
The district nurse is a registered nurse who has completed a Specialist Practice Qualification in district nursing (Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI), 2014), and the role is considered a generalist one that is multifaceted in nature (Randall and Ford, 2011). This includes assuming responsibility for the leadership and management of the team that the district nurse leads (QNI, 2015; Royal College of Nursing (RCN), 2013) and being accountable for the standard of nursing care that is delivered in the community by this team (Bain, 2015). Within this managerial role, the district nurse faces significant challenges (Box 1). This article discusses the challenge of caseload management, in terms of the issues that the district nurse faces within this aspect of their role, and it offers ways in which the district nurse can overcome and manage these issues.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Community Nursing and reading some of our peer-reviewed resources for district and community nurses. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Limited access to clinical or professional articles
-
New content and clinical newsletter updates each month