One of the country's most senior nurses has called upon other people in nurse manager jobs to engage with young nurses.

Katherine Fenton, chief nurse for NHS south central, warned that the health care professions needed to boost productivity or face "slash and burn" style cuts and a reduction in patient care.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Nursing Times, Ms Fenton said that the 'high impact actions' recommended by chief nursing officer Christine Beasley were "largely doable" and could help cut costs.

The actions have eight general objectives - preventing falls, keeping patients nourished, promoting skin care, speeding up the discharge process, protecting patients from infection, providing end of life choices, reducing sickness among nurses and midwifes and improved support for natural births. For example, nurses are being asked to help reduce infection among patients by taking action to reduce pressure ulcers and bed sores.

"We have got time this year to start doing the things that are right" said Ms Fenton. "I do believe these things are largely doable if we focus on it. I don't think we've focused on it enough, particularly in the recent period when we have had significant growth."

Ms Fenton said that senior and experienced nurses, such as those in nurse manager jobs, had to "win the hearts and minds" of "generation y" - young nurses on the front line of health care - to get the changes implemented effectively.

"Unless we do engage them we will be back to just doing cuts" she warned. "There is a lot of negativity out there. Because we haven't communicated to our nursing and midwifery workforce as well as we could, they feel things have been 'done to them' a lot of the time."