In the third of five articles on workload and workforce planning, Mairi Kellagher and colleagues describe a toolkit developed in Scotland to help senior charge nurses manage nursing and midwifery staff effectively

The second article in this series described the tools for which there is a consensus for use in nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning (NMWWP) in Scotland, and the national programme of education and training support developed for the staff who would be using the tools in NHS boards. To help senior charge nurses, midwives and others support and manage their staff resources effectively, a learning toolkit has been developed by the NMWWP programme in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland. The NMWWP learning toolkit (NHS Education for Scotland 2008), described in this article, is a flexible, practical, work-based resource for use in NHS boards. Intended primarily for senior charge nurses, it can also be used by other professionals who aspire to senior charge nurse positions and by nurse managers as a knowledge-refresher.