Partnership working between a Higher Education Institution and NHS TRUSTS: developing an acute and critical care module

Abstract

The underpinning philosophy of preparing nurses to work within a modern National Health Service (NHS) is to ensure patient safety and quality of clinical care. There is increasing recognition that post-registration education should become more clinically focused and adopt a more work-based approach. Critical to the success of such an approach is partnership working between education providers and NHS Trusts. Changes in the delivery of acute care in the NHS have resulted in an increased number of highly dependent patients in both critical and non-critical care areas. This article describes a partnership approach between a Higher Education Institution (HEI) and two NHS Trusts to deliver a degree level module to address the subsequent educational implications of these changes. This approach ensured module credibility and clinical focus. Student feedback confirms the clinical relevance of the module. Staff from the NHS had the opportunity to develop teaching skills by preparing teaching materials, delivering teaching sessions and receiving feedback on these. Areas of good practice were identified and there was sharing of skills, knowledge and expertise between both institutions. Joint working can enhance clinical relevance of educational provision and ensure consistency between theory and practice. In addition, there were a number of wider benefits to both institutions that resulted from this initiative.

Indicators of acute deterioration in adult patients nursed in acute wards: a factorial survey

“…One of the strands of the Safer Patient Initiative has been the recognition and treatment of acutely ill adults and several educational initiatives both within the NHS and in collaboration with the local Higher Education Institution have focussed on this area. These have included short courses as part of continuing professional development and academic modules at undergraduate level within both pre‐ and postregistration programmes (Rattray et al. 2006).…”

Challenges of postgraduate critical care nursing program in Iran

“…The main aim of preparing the nurses in critical care program is to ensure patient safety and high quality care. Being innovative and confident to make decisions are the key elements of effective nursing in critical care ( 4 ). Furthermore, increasing patients’ expectations and awareness of the need to critical care nurses calls for skillful nurses more than ever ( 3 ).…”

“…Therefore, postgraduate curriculum must be more clinical and focused on practical skills ( 4 ). However, some studies claim that current curriculums in critical care fails to prepare students for these situations, which could cause serious frustration and disappointment in future nursing staff ( 5 ).…”

Pathology of apprenticeships for masters of nursing critical care

“…Nurses of different units need to have intensive care experiences because caring for critically ill patients is not limited to ICUs, and patients’ situations are typically complex in most wards. Nurses who work in different units are expected to manage the challenges of patients with complex disorders under monitors and multiple supportive technologies ( 3 – 5 ). However, shortage of expert nurses is a global reality and will be more severe with the population increasingly getting older ( 6 ).…”

“…This can contribute to quality improvement of the programs in later stages. Researchers also believe that student feedback on modules and programs can affect a program’s development ( 5 ). Because profound understanding of the challenges of apprenticeships of the curriculum is not achievable with quantitative approaches, the researchers decided to achieve this aim by qualitative study.…”