Kitson, A., Carr, D., Feo, R., Conroy, T., & Jeffs, L. (2024). The ILC Maine statement: Time for the fundamental care [r]evolution. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 00, 1–14
This position statement stems from the ILC’s annual conference and Leadership Program held in Portland, Maine, USA, in June 2023. The statement draws on the discussions between participants and the authors’ subsequent reflections and synthesis of these discussions and ideas.
Internationally, fundamental care is reported to be poorly delivered, delayed or missed, negatively impacting patients, their families/carers and healthcare staff and systems. Overcoming this global chal-lenge requires profound transformation in how our healthcare systems value, deliver and evaluate fundamental care. This transformation will take both evolutionary and revolutionary guises. In this position statement, we argue how this [r]evolutionary transformation for fundamental care can and must be created within clinical practice.
The statement focuses on what must occur to transform how fundamental care is valued, prioritized and delivered within clinical practice settings globally. To en-sure demonstrable change, the statement comprises four action-oriented strategies that must be systematically owned by healthcare staff and leaders and embedded in our healthcare organizations and systems:
- Address non- nursing tasks: reclaim and protect time to provide high-value funda-mental care.
- Accentuate the positive: change from deficit- based to affirmative language when describing fundamental care.
- Access evidence and assess impact: demonstrate transformation in fundamental care by generating relevant indicators and impact measures and rigorously syn-thesizing existing research.
- Advocate for interprofessional collaboration: support high-quality, transdiscipli-nary fundamental care delivery via strong nursing leadership.
The ILC Maine Statement calls for ongoing action – [r]evolution – from healthcare leaders and staff within clinical practice to prioritize fundamental care throughout healthcare systems globally