Elizabeth A. Girot

Education for new role development: the Community Matron in England

AIM This paper is a report of an evaluation of the English national pilot education programme preparing Community Matrons to fulfil their role. BACKGROUND Investment in community services has been important in introducing new ways of working in the United Kingdom National Health Service, particularly for patients with complex long-term conditions. Development of the Community Matron role in England is an exemplar in the creation of modern nursing careers that are fit for purpose. METHOD A mixed methods approach to data collection was adopted. This included documentary analysis of a range of sources used in the development and evaluation of the programme. In addition, during 2006, a self-administered questionnaire was sent to all Community Matrons undertaking the programme (n = 70), with a response rate of 67% (n = 47). Individual telephone interviews were conducted with 17 students and six mentors. A focus group was also undertaken with the education programme Development Team (n = 5). Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and qualitative data analysed using content and thematic analyses. FINDINGS The majority of students (n = 25) believed that the programme had met their expectations and had helped them to achieve the functions of the Community Matron role as defined in national competence statements. However, 17 students experienced difficulties in the level of organisational readiness to support them in their role, including, for example, lack of facilitation of their work-based learning. CONCLUSION In spite of the successful programme design, there is a need for organisations to develop their infrastructure to support new roles as well as offering protected time to learn in practice.

Recognising the challenges of collaborative, multi-site research

Background: Collaborative multi-site research is gaining recognition. In particular, across stakeholders in the health and social care professions, there has been an increase in the documentation of such approaches, with the majority acknowledging the strengths and few identifying the pitfalls. Four universities in the south west of England collaborated on the design, analysis and implementation of a project scoping the staff development needs of nursing and midwifery academics to meet the National Health Service Modernisation Agenda in the United Kingdom. Aim: This paper highlights the challenges and the lessons learned from each stage of the process of this large multi-site collaborative study. Consideration has been given to addressing the site-specific differences as well as the politics of the processes and power relations across the research team. Discussion: From an analytical reflection across the team, there were a number of lessons learned from the process of collaboration. Initially, the main challenge was the selection of the team and lead researcher and these were its greatest success. Nevertheless, managing each individuals competing roles within the organisation remained problematic. Particular challenges included gaining consensus on the research design, the chosen sample and data collection to reflect the site-specific differences and were overcome through discussion and effective leadership. Towards the end of the study, adequately representing each institution in the findings, as well as dissemination have remained the greatest challenges. Conclusions: While collaboration has been lauded as a way forward, this analysis of the process highlights some of the difficulties of working as a multi-site virtual team who are widely spread geographically and who have no previous connection. At different stages of the process there has been acknowledgement of the political dimensions affecting such an approach and a need to avoid the pitfalls of collaborative working in order to harness the potential of all team members, if success is to be achieved.

An exploration of the ‘value-added’ of higher education for the health and social care workforce: The lecturers’ perspectives

As part of a larger case study, this co‐operative inquiry explores the lecturers’ perspectives of the added value of the higher education experience of mixed ability groups of experienced care workers undertaking a 60 credit Certificate in Empowering Practice programme. Following consistent positive programme evaluations the success of the course is reflected upon by two lecturers and two researchers to understand the lessons learned. Using a thematic analysis, findings provide an understanding of the principles involved in producing consistent enthusiasm from these students and their service managers. A key to their success appears to lie in the meaningful organisation of the curriculum and the creative use of learning and teaching strategies. As co‐inquirers, we have learned about the importance of promoting effective student support and creating successful links between their teaching and assessment strategies and the world of work. Although not generalisable, the findings of this co‐operative inquiry identify some of the lessons learned and the principles that can be used in larger groups of pre‐qualifying students to enhance their value in the workplace.