The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England’s vision is that the voice of nurses and midwives contribute to and have impact upon the development of robust professional, contemporary, and clinically relevant policy.

Nurses and midwives are expert leaders within their fields, from clinical and operational improvement through to academia and strategic planning – skills that lead change and are transforming care across a broad range of settings.

By ensuring nurses and midwives can engage with policy grounded in robust research and evidence, we can maximise the professions’ contribution to drive change and improvement at national, regional and local and system levels across both health and care sectors.

Chief Nursing Officer for England’s Policy and Strategy Unit

The CNO’s Policy Network is supported by the CNO Policy and Strategy Unit. The CNO’s Policy and Strategy Unit works to drive forward national policy, strategy, and professional priorities relevant to nursing and midwifery in the delivery of health and care. The objectives of the CNO Policy and Strategy Unit are to provide policy advice and guidance to the CNO, to support the CNO in setting strategic priorities and to deliver on national policy areas in relation to the profession.  Their work spans several areas, including professional strategies, professional regulation and workforce matters, often working with the teams supporting the Chief Nursing Officers for the devolved administrations and other key stakeholders.

To find out more or get in touch with the CNO’s Policy and Strategy unit, please email england.nursingpolicystrategy@nhs.net.

CNO Health and Wellbeing Nurse Reference Group

The CNO Health and Wellbeing Nurse Reference Group was established by the Chief Nursing Officer for England in 2018. It provides a forum for nurses and midwives from a mix of settings, roles and stage of career to discuss areas that impact on the health and wellbeing of the workforce. The outcomes of the group are used to influence and input into how national policy should be developed to support health and wellbeing across the nursing and midwifery workforce.

Membership refreshes are conducted annually. If you are interested in finding out more, please email england.nursingpolicystrategy@nhs.net

The Chief Nursing Officer for England’s Policy Network

The CNO Policy Network; established in 2019, offers colleagues from across England the opportunity to engage with, inform and influence a broad range of areas of healthcare policy for the benefit of their communities.

It is a network for registered nurses and midwives, nursing associates, student nurses and midwives; no matter what their role and no matter where they work.

Throughout the pandemic the network has contributed to strategic and operational responses for the benefit of our communities, our staff and our services. Offering leadership, clinical and professional expertise as well as innovative ways of thinking and working, nurses and midwives have generated ideas for improvement and innovation across health and care. Underpinned by evidence-based research, these contributions are now helping us to sustain change and improve patient outcomes as well as outcomes for our communities as we move forwards.

With a continued commitment to ensuring the nursing and midwifery voice within policy is heard, and valued, the CNO’s Policy Network is a rapidly growing inclusive and diverse network. Underpinned by Collective Leadership principles, the network continues to offer an opportunity to get involved in the policy development cycle – wherever you work, whatever your role.

Members are supported to work collaboratively, promoting research and evidence- based approaches, which drive forward areas of policy for the benefit of our communities.

In particular, the network aims to:

• Strengthen the nursing and midwifery voice within national, regional, system and local policy.
• Ensure nursing and midwifery expertise is at the heart of all policy decision-making through expect advice, political knowledge and collaborative working.
• Amplify our professional voice, profile and involvement in decision-making in forums related to practice and research; locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
• Drive forward and support key national policies pertinent to the professions, including the CNO for England’s strategic priorities for nursing and midwifery.
• Ensure that involvement in policy development, implementation and evaluation is accessible to all nursing and midwifery colleagues across all levels in England.

We’re delighted to welcome colleagues from across health and care in England. To become a member of the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s Policy Network, please email england.nursingpolicystrategy@nhs.net. To find out more, visit our Policy Network Community on the FutureNHS platform.