A workforce in jeopardy: identifying the challenges of ensuring a sustainable advanced HIV nursing workforce:

BackgroundHIV services in England face substantial challenges arising from financial pressures and changes to commissioning. A sustainable HIV specialist nursing workforce will be vital to enable them to respond to those challenges.AimsThis paper examines the current workforce situation in HIV services across the country.MethodsThis mixed-method study involved semi-structured interviews with 19 key stakeholders and with 44 nurses/physicians from 21 purposively selected HIV services across England. Data were interpreted using a framework analysis approach.Results‘Building a career in HIV nursing’ identified problems associated with retention and recruitment. Changes in commissioning are disrupting common career routes from sexual health to HIV nursing, and a perceived lack of a clear career pathway was seen as a barrier to recruitment. ‘Developing a specialist workforce’ explored the professional development of the current workforce, which was hampered by poor access to funding or study time for advanced s...