The professional nurse advocate model and use of A-EQUIP: a tool to support the nursing workforce

The aim of the professional nurse advocate (PNA) role is to provide support to registered nurses through restorative clinical supervision in the following areas: wellbeing, education and clinical. This is a new role that is designed to be the key enabler of the NHS England Advocating and Educating for Quality Improvement (A-EQUIP) model of professional nursing leadership and clinical supervision (NHS England, 2023).

The role was first introduced in 2016 in midwifery as an employer-led model of supervision enacted by professional midwifery advocates (Capito et al, 2022). Following a successful rollout in midwifery, it was decided that this method of restorative clinical supervision would be rolled out to all areas of nursing practice. This was to provide a clinical model of restorative supervision that allows nurses who are PNA trained to listen to colleagues and understand the challenges experienced by them and to lead in response to these challenges and quality improvement initiatives (Royal College of Nursing (RCN), 2023). However, following the COVID-19 pandemic there was a sense of urgency to ensure this was undertaken. There was a recognition that the NHS workforce needed to recover from the pandemic and a reset was planned through the use of a new model of clinical supervision. In addition to the challenges brought about by the pandemic were the challenges that had arisen from the longstanding workforce issues. The issues in the UK include concerns about working conditions and high vacancy rates. The NHS Confederation (2021) reported that, to support the wellbeing and health of its staff, there was a requirement for NHS staff to have restorative supervision.