David G. Holloway

Provision of continued professional development for non-medical prescribers within a South of England Strategic Health Authority: a report on a training needs analysis.

AIMS This paper reports on a Training Needs Analysis for Non-Medical Prescribers commissioned by a south of England Strategic Health Authority. BACKGROUND The aim of the TNA was to inform future policy, educational provision and practice development and provide nurse managers with significant information on the perceived Continuing Professional Development (CPD) needs of the non-medical prescribers. METHODS Data were collected from a sample of 270 non-medical prescribers using an in-depth questionnaire, and telephone interviews with a purposive sample of 11 key stakeholders. RESULTS The findings report: * The qualifications that non-medical prescribers possess. * The level of confidence described by the non-medical prescribers in their role. * What non-medical prescribers identify as their present and future CPD requirements in relation to prescribing. * What education and training provision non-medical prescribers have attended in relation to their prescribing role since qualifying. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest, first that short courses that were specific to the non-medical prescribers role were considered to be the most popular and useful. However, courses needed to be advertised well in advance. Second, training gaps were identified. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Pharmacology and prescribing are rapidly changing and require regular CPD in order to keep up to date with the latest developments. Non-medical prescribing is a comparatively new innovation to the NHS, therefore those who are not medically qualified need mentorship from experienced prescribers, as well as the encouragement from nurse managers to be confident prescribers themselves and enhance patient care.

An innovatory honours degree programme for nurse teacher preparation: development and evaluation

The implementation of the Project 2000 recommendations in the UK is bringing about change in the role and functions of the nurse teacher in terms of relationships with associated institutions of higher education, with colleagues in both teaching and clinical settings and in terms of the teaching and facilitating strategies employed. As a consequence there has been a reappraisal of nurse teacher preparation. This paper provides a description and an evaluation of an innovatory full-time degree programme that provides advanced study of nursing, behavioural, life and social sciences combined with the study of education and leading to a teaching qualification recordable with the United Kingdom Central Council (UKCC). The development of the BA (Hons) Nursing with Education degree programme at Portsmouth Polytechnic is briefly described and placed in context. The course has been subject to formative and summative evaluation using a range of techniques which are reported in this paper. There is a brief discussion of the action taken on the outcomes of the evaluation. The paper concludes with the identification of issues arising from the evaluation.

A review of issues in continuing professional development in teaching, nursing and radiography

This paper examines developments in the provision of continuing professional development (CPD) for school teachers, nurses and radiographers in the UK. The focus is on current developments which are located in the context of models of professional development. Three major issues are identified: funding/resourcing, curriculum coherence and the relationship to practice. The latter raised further issues for consideration including the accreditation of practice, the development of reflective practice and the moves towards research‐based and evidence‐based practice. The paper concludes that CPD is a comparatively under‐researched activity and that the approaches to CPD in the three occupational groups have significant similarities. Furthermore the existing literature has not located CPD in the context of current thinking regarding learning organizations and post‐technocratic models of professional development.

Reforming further education teacher training: a policy communities and policy networks analysis

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s teacher preparation for the schools sector in the United Kingdom was subject to a series of reforms and innovations including the establishment of new institutional arrangements to oversee the sector, namely the Teacher Training Agency (TTA – now the Training and Development Agency, TDA). Since 2002 the arrangements for training teachers in the broadly defined learning and skills sector have also been subject to scrutiny and a wide‐ranging reform agenda has been put forward by the Government. This paper examines the key reforms using a three stage model to analyse the policy development process and discusses the functions and status of the sector skills council, Learning UK (LLUK), in order to examine its relationships with external stakeholders. Contrasts are made with the approach adopted by the TTA during the reform of teacher training for school. The paper concludes with a tentative assessment of the progress of the reform agenda and the identification of a number of salient issues that warrant further research.

The Audit commission, managerialism and the further education sector

Abstract The academic literature on the further education sector in the United Kingdom in recent years has reported on the powerful tendency towards managerialism and its consequences. This article provides an assessment of the contribution of the Audit Commission to the development of managerialism and the emergence of the ‘new public management’ in the further education sector. It shows how selected Audit Commission reports have shaped policy and practice in the sector. The work of the Audit Commission has received little attention from educational researchers even though it has carried out research and published extensively on aspects of education policy and institutional management. This article provides a brief account of the role and functions of the Audit Commission. Selected Audit Commission publications relating to Further Education sector management and 16-19 education provision are examined. Key issues arising from the approach of the Audit Commission are identified as a part of a preliminary a...

Total Quality Management, the Learning Organisation and Post‐compulsory Education

Abstract The turbulence confronting educational Institutions In the United Kingdom has led to the suggestion that any attempt to respond using established management principles and processes is likely to be dysfunctional. Total quality management (TQM) has been advanced as a strategy that will enable educational institutions adapt to the greater market orientation and transform them into learning organisations. The paper identifies the key principles of TQM, critically reviewing the literature that examines their application in education and focusing on the post‐compulsory sector. Secondly, selected linkages between the key principles and other approaches to the study of organisational behaviour, including aspects of open systems theory, leadership, teamworking, training and staff development, and organisational culture, are examined. The concept of the learning organisation is outlined and its relationship with TQM examined. The paper concludes that TQM treats organisational change issues in educational ...

Regulating the New Governance.

Abstract This article arises out of a research project that sought to assess the development of regulation within the public sector. It examines the forms and impact of the regulatory systems that now operate within the public sector focusing on the further education sector. The research project developed out of an awareness that the increase in various forms of regulation and control by central government, that was begun under the Conservative government prior to 1997, has continued under successive Labour administrations. The project sought to assess current forms of control, to examine the relationship between the regulators and the regulated, and to consider various alternative accounts of this relationship. It examined the regulatory regimes in such areas as health care, personal social services, policing, further education, probation, social security and housing. The project used a range of methods, including documentary research, questionnaires to local level managers and officers, and semistructured interviews with key individuals involved in the implementation of regulated services.

Student Nurses’ Experience of Experiential Teaching and Learning: towards a phenomenological understanding

ABSTRACT This paper reports on the use of a phenomenological research methodology to investigate the influence on clinical practice of pre‐ and post‐registration nurse education which makes explicit use of experiential teaching and learning approaches. The primary aims of the research were: first, to examine the learners’ understanding of experiential teaching and learning, and, secondly, to examine the claims made for the use of experiential teaching and learning approaches in both pre‐ and post‐registration nurses courses. A rationale is provided for the selection of a phenomenological approach indicating its compatibility with the focus of the enquiry. Data collection has involved focused non‐directive interviews with nine members of a BSc Nursing Studies and MSc/DipHE Mental Health Branch courses. The data have been analysed using a technique developed by Giorgi. The findings are presented and discussed In the context of other studies from both nurse and higher education. Previous experiences of exper...

Staff development procedures and a culture of collaboration in a primary school

Abstract Given the legislative, administrative and curriculum changes imposed on primary schools during the last decade, those responsible for the professional development of teachers have faced considerable challenges. This article presents a case study of the staff development procedures introduced in one primary school, examining their relationship to collaboration and educational change. The literature on approaches to teacher development and cultures of teaching is reviewed. Data was gathered, using focused semi-structured interviews, from teaching staff, student teachers on placement at the school and support staff. The content analysis identified the following exclusive categories: Staff Relationships; Staff Development/Educational Change; Developments in School Organisation; Current Organisation; Conveying School Ethos to Newcomers and Encouraging Participation; Issues to be Addressed; and Suggested Improvements. The research suggests that the ecological change approach best described staff develo...

Developing a rationale for research based practice: some considerations for nurse teachers

There is considerable interest in nursing literature regarding the development of research-based practice. This paper considers the implications for nurse teachers advocating a research focus on the problems that arise in practice utilising practitioner and action-based methodologies. The rationale for practitioner action-based approaches is outlined with consideration of the major claims made for the approach in educational literature. The paper concludes with a warning about the limitations of the approach and a statement of its contemporary relevance to nurse education.