The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced that Professor Jane Ball will lead the organisation’s new Institute of Nursing Excellence.
Jane, a former RCN policy adviser, will start her role as director from 15 July which will centre around bringing the RCN’s five academies together. They include:
- Nursing Leadership Academy
- Nursing Practice Academy
- Nursing Workforce Academy
- International Nursing Academy
- Activism Academy
Jane explained: “The RCN has recognised the real challenges nursing faces and wants to respond with what we can learn from the evidence, applying that to progress the profession through the work of the Institute and its five academies.”
RCN’s chief nursing officer and deputy chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Jane to the RCN in this crucial role, which will see us navigate and progress the nursing profession in new ways.
“Through the Institute, we’ll support members to be strong advocates for patients and colleagues, and brave leaders in innovation and research both nationally and internationally. The Institute is the thinktank through which we’ll deliver our aspirational vision for nursing.”
Jane currently works as a nursing workforce and policy professor at the University of Southampton, where she investigates how things like staffing levels and shift patterns impact quality of care, patient outcomes and nursing staff.
“The work of the Institute can give hope to nursing staff by enabling them to see a way to marshal evidence to help them and help the profession,” said Jane.
Jane is also an RCN fellow and advocates for safety-critical nurse-to-patient ratios, which she spoke about at RCN’s recent safe staffing summit.
National Health Executive will host an online conference this week dedicated to the workforce, where leaders from across the healthcare sector will come together to discuss everything from recruitment and mental wellbeing, all the way to employee benefits plus training and development.
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