News

AAPE UK response to announcement that RCN is to credential ANP’s.

AAPE UK have noted the announcement that the RCN is to credential Advanced Nurse Practitioners with the aim of improving the consistency related to the use of this title.

Demand for advanced level knowledge and skills is at an all time high in the UK as our health care systems face significant challenges.  Nevertheless, the public and employers are asking for clarity and assurance about the appropriate use of titles, underpinning education, rigour of assessment and governance framework needed for the burgeoning number of posts.

AAPE UK representatives are currently participating in top level discussions related to advanced clinical practice policy, standards and implementation strategies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  Whilst the specific priorities vary in each country, there is a common recognition that advanced clinical practice roles have expanded beyond nursing to include allied health professionals and pharmacists.

AAPE UK hope that the production of standards for advanced practice by the professional colleges will support and facilitate the further expansion of advanced practice roles and not result in an incoherent, fragmented approach.

We look forward to hearing more of the RCN work at the launch in November.

Update on Health Education England Advanced Clinical Practice Project (August 2016)

Background

In the latter part of 2015, Health Education England started a project in relation to Advanced Clinical Practice aiming to establish an agreed framework with a common definition and core principles with a multidisciplinary application.  A Steering Group was established.  The opportunity was taken to utilise an existing group of LETB representatives and advanced practice health professionals who had been already meeting for a year to share local advanced clinical practice frameworks and guidance.  This group has become the working reference group for the HEE project.

AAPE UK have representation on both groups:  Ruth Pearce (former Chair of AAPE UK) is a member of the Steering Group and Katrina Maclaine (Current Chair of AAPE UK) is on the working group.

Meetings of both groups are being held regularly with good attendance and enthusiastic participation.  The time line for the project has recently been extended from 1 year to 2 years in recognition of the scale of the project, however it is hoped that a definition with principles will be produced as on of the interim outputs.

Thoughts from Katrina Maclaine on themes from recent working group meetings:

The enthusiasm for this project has been high with lots of discussion and debate on issues that have vexed everyone involved in advanced practice for many many years.  As a result achieving a consensus has been challenging but a very interesting process.

For example is the intention to set a standard for advanced clinical practice as a level of practice or rather to define the role advanced clinical practitioner. We have agreed the former (using the reasoning already well articulated in the Welsh Advanced Practice policy) however anxiety in the practitioners in the group remains regarding how this will help the multitude of titles and consistency of terms for patients and colleagues.

Another key aspect that many of us have emphasised is the need to not reinvent the wheel, with high quality UK and international and profession specific work to draw on.   We undertook an exercise where multiple definitions of advanced practice were mapped and key common words highlighted.  This enabled us to synthesis a draft definition which will be put to the Steering group for consideration.  In this we particularly emphasised the importance of the four pillars, not only as separate key aspects of advanced practice but also as integral to and underpinning each other to ensure that the level of practice is significantly different from the standard of a newly qualified health professional.

The most contentious issue has been whether there should be a set standard for educational preparation and if so what this should be.   Some members want “masters level thinking” focusing on demonstrating experiential learning, while others of us are strongly pushing for a full MSc award with the curriculum based around all 4 pillars.

There was some email debate following the last meeting so I thought it might be worth sharing what I contributed (see below).  I would welcome your thoughts to enable Ruth and I to reflect your opinions as AAPE UK members in the group discussions. 

As I said at the meeting I strongly advocate a full MSc ACP for the future standard with agreed themes for content based around the 4 pillars that form part of our proposed definition.

This does not stifle creativity and can be outcome focussed with recognition of prior and experiential learning optimised.

I looked that some of the other Local office standards and also the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland, RCEM and international work.

MSc Advanced Practice is now the common proposed standard and I think any suggestions for England not to act similarly would be a serious mistake in terms of reputation and its impact on reducing inter-country barriers for a mobile global workforce.

Their rationale does refer to international comparisons, however they also importantly emphasise:

  1. The need to establish consistency to sustain the future of advanced clinical practice with a single framework to support employers, service leads and senior clinicians to articulate the role, its function and the education requirements.
  2. Recognition of the level of practitioner that will result from a full MSc with a specific curriculum designed to fully optimise the knowledge, skills and competencies that are characteristic of advanced clinical practice, will be higher than that for a lower masters level award such as a module, PgCert or PgDip.   This is key for delivering the future policy agenda nationally and locally in England.

I know there may be a perception that as an HEI we have a vested interest in advocating for a full MSc, however my experience from the being on the UKCC Higher Level Steering Group (1994) piloted a standard for trying to regulate advanced nursing, subsequently as part of the NMC working group on regulating Advanced Nurse Practitioners (2004), and then on the Department of Health group to define Advanced Nursing (2010) has demonstrated to me that “masters level thinking” is not sufficient to provide a the single standard needed to enable us to move on from the constant debate about the standards needed for preparation of health professionals for advanced practice.

The issue of affordability came up last Thursday.  This is a challenging one but I don’t think we should modify our goals based on this.

I realise there are other views but wanted to share my thoughts so they could be included in information for the Steering group to consider.

Katrina’s contact email is maclaik@lsbu.ac.uk 

We will provide further updates on this work.  

Our conference in March 2017 will also include a presentation from Mark Radford who is co-chairing the Steering Group for this important project. 

Nuffield Trust release Reshaping the Workforce

The Nuffield Trust have released their report titled: Reshaping the workforce to support new models of care. Their executive summary states it ‘is a huge opportunity, but
also a huge organisational development challenge – particularly with regard to the
non-medical workforce. We argue that organisations need to begin with a deep
understanding of patient needs, and then train, recruit and skill the workforce to
meet those needs. This report explores how organisations can do this, and the benefits
that would result.’

Click on the link to access the report

For HEI’s it state that advanced practice roles should ‘typically’ have a two year Masters qualification. The Health Education England National Framework also gets a mention and the need for ring fenced funding. See below:

The report states there are a number of important areas where national support is needed. Based on
their research they would recommend the following:
– the Health Education England budget and specialist workforce planning expertise
should be protected by ring-fencing monies to support local workforce redesign
– national competence frameworks are needed for staff in extended and advanced
roles
– there should be a dialogue between the professional regulators and system
regulators to ensure that there is no ‘regulatory gap’ and that new and extended
roles have safe governance arrangements
– Health Education England should work with NHS Improvement and the Care
Quality Commission to ensure that planning assumptions, new workforce models
and inspection requirements are aligned and clearly communicated
– the Department of Health should review the current legal indemnity
arrangements for primary care staff with new and extended roles to find ways to
make legal indemnity easier to obtain and more affordable
– the underlying needs analysis for, and impact of, workforce redesign should be
a national research priority
– Health Education England should consider how it can support the dissemination
of good practice examples.

As Chris Inman from Birmingham City University points out there are parts of the report that read is if the Nuffield Trust has just come up with these roles and rather typically, when AP is mentioned, there is scant attention paid to regulation. However, it’s good to see a call for the DH to review legal indemnity for primary care staff.

AAPE UK Conference 2016 programme

 AAPE UK Annual Conference 2016

 “The Impact of Inter-Professional Advanced Practitioners on Service Design and

Health and Social Care” 

 Friday 4th March 2016, 9am – 4:00pm

The Old Fire Station, University of Salford,

Council Chamber G05, The Crescent, Salford, M5 4WT

 Location: Visit http://www.salford.ac.uk/conferencing-at-salford/our-venues/the-old-fire-station

Nearest train station – Salford Crescent Station (3 minute walk – turn left out of the station and cross at the pedestrian crossing – venue is facing

you)

Call for posters submission date extended until 12th February

You can still submit your poster to the annual AAPE-UK conference! The deadline has been extended until 12th February 2016. You may have prepared a poster in the past as part of your course work or have an element of advanced practice you’d like to share. Please consider submitting your poster to our conference.

Call for posters AAPE Conference 2016 – submission

Abstract submission form for poster session

The impact of Inter professional Advanced Practitioners on Service Design and Health and Social Care

The Association for Advanced Practice Educators UK (AAPE) National Conference

 4th March 2016

University of Salford

 

Preparing your abstract

1.      The abstract must not exceed 300 words (excluding authors’ names and affiliations).

2.      Please structure your abstract as follows:

a.       Put the title of the abstract in bold (Please use sentence case for the title);

b.      Provide the names and affiliation(s) of all authors, with the name of the presenting author in bold;

c.       Use the following headings in your abstract: Introduction, Aims/Objectives, Details of project, Results/Outcomes, Conclusions/Impact.

3.      Please attach your abstract document in Microsoft Word format and email it together with the form below to a.s.gloster@salford.ac.uk  by 12th February 2016.

Corresponding author name:  
Email address:
Presenting author name (if different to corresponding author):
Job title:
Organisation/Institution:
AAPE member Yes/ No

 

Terms and conditions

By submitting this abstract, the authors consent to it being published in conference programme and on the association of Advanced Practice Educators website. Presenting authors also acknowledge that they will need to register and pay to attend the conference.

 

RCN Scotland ‘Nurse Innovators – clinical decision making in action’

RCN Scotland have published a report outlining how advanced nurse practitioners work as innovators. Theresa Fyffe, the director of RCN Scotland states the report has been compiled due to ‘frustration at the lack of recognition at all levels of the health service and within Government of the key contribution that senior nurses in clinical decision-making roles currently make to our health service.’ the report contains case studies outlining the work advanced nurse practitioners do to enhance practice.

 

RCN Education Conference International Conference & Exhibition 2016: partners in practice – the global perspective

RCN Education Conference International Conference & Exhibition 2016: partners in practice – the global perspective.

15-16 March 2016, Telford

 

This nurse educator led conference will allow you to share experiences and best practice, join in the debate and consider models for effectively training the workforce whilst delivering safe services for patients.

 

• Hear the views of eminent national and international keynote speakers exploring the current and future face of nursing education.

• Join in the debate, share your experiences and network with peers.

• Help shape the future delivery of high-quality nursing education both in the UK and across the globe.

This conference aims to support nurse educators from around the UK, who may work in the NHS or private and voluntary sectors, or universities and colleges, at a range of levels from supporting the education of health care assistants to post-doctoral education, as well as international nurse educators.

 

Confirmed keynotes:

 

Professor Tracy Levett-Jones,  Deputy Head of School (Teaching & Learning), School of Nursing & Midwifery, The University of Newcastle, Australia

Dr Kerry Jones, Head of Clinical Workforce Re-design, Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Professor Bridie Kent, Head of School and Associate Dean of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, Plymouth University

Professor Heather Wharrad, Chair in e-Learning & Health Informatics and Academic Lead for Health e-Learning and Media group, University of Nottingham

 

Conference sessions, delivered by national and international practising nurse educators, include: –

diflucan price

·         mentorship

·         workforce development

·         simulation in education

·         partnership working

·         student experience

 

Conference fees: £300.00 for RCN members, £440.00 for non-members

 

For further details and to book your place visit www.rcn.org.uk/ED16

West Midlands Advanced Clinical Practice: defining the future forward role, 29th January 2016

Advanced Clinical Practice: defining the future forward role

 

We would like to invite you to the West Midlands Advanced Clinical Practice conference on:

 

Date:                     Friday 29th January 2016

Time:                     10am to 4pm

Venue:                 The Studio, Birmingham City Centre

 

The event is designed to appeal to a wide audience of representatives with an interest in Advanced Clinical Practice from healthcare, higher education institutes, senior leaders and advanced practitioners.

 

Guest speakers will share and discuss the innovative work currently underway on Advanced Clinical Practice across Health Education England.  Highlighting how Advanced Clinical Practice across the multi-professional workforce can be used effectively to enhance and provide capability within teams as part of the continuing drive to provide safe, accessible and high quality care for patients. 

 

The conference will provide you with the opportunity to share and learn about the important Advanced Clinical Practice work being carried out locally and nationally including frameworks, competencies and role development.  The conference will be interactive with a blend of main stage presentations and workshops.

 

To register follow link:  http://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-clinical-practice-defining-the-future-forward-role-tickets-19377868727

 

For further information please contact Sukvinder Kaur, Regional Programme Manager by email (Sukvinder.Kaur@uhcw.nhs.uk).

2016 AAPE-UK Conference – Call for Posters

Call for posters at ‘The impact of Inter professional Advanced Practitioners on Service Design and Health and Social Care’ conference  2016

 The Association for Advanced Practice Educators (AAPE) UK will host a poster session at the conference in Salford on 4th March 2016, and delegates are invited to submit an abstract for consideration.

We welcome abstracts on research, good practice, education and any new initiatives in the inter professional AP role and their impact.  Abstracts are welcomed from all disciplines, across health and social care.

If you are involved in a project or initiative around the theme of the conference, this is your opportunity to present your findings, showcase your work, share your experiences, discuss the outcomes, and get valuable feedback from colleagues.

The abstract is a short description of your work and should contain an introduction, aims & objectives, details of the initiative or project, results & outcomes, and conclusions & impact of the work.

There are a limited number of poster slots available and abstracts will be reviewed by a panel of experts.  Authors will be notified if their abstract has been successful and given further information on preparing a poster for the event.

Accepted authors will be required to register and pay to attend the conference, in order for the abstract to be eligible for display at the conference, inclusion on the programme and on the AAPE UK website.  Authors will be expected to stand with their poster during a specified time to answer any questions from attendees.

The posters will then be judged by the attendees at the conference and the best poster will be awarded a prize on the day.

Abstract submission deadline: 31st December 2015

Authors will be notified of acceptance by: 31st January 2016

Please complete the form overleaf and return it together with your abstract in Word format to a.s.gloster@salford.ac.uk