June Rutherford

What is the future of the lecturer practitioner role—a decade on?

Collaboration between the Greater Manchester Workforce Development Confederation, the University of Salford and nine NHS Trusts, in the implementation of the Fitness for Practice and Making a Difference recommendations, identified the need for a wider co nsultation on the future of education and practice links. Lessons learned from this initiative included a realization of the importance of partnering arrangements between higher education and practice. To achieve a collaborative model for the future a wo rking party was established to determine how effective partnership and collaboration between the NHS Trusts, Confederation and Higher Education could be developed, maintained and disseminated for the future. Five sub groups were formed from the main work ing party all charged with examining education and practice links. Each sub group reported back and presented evidence to the main working party. It was recognized that a whole repertoire of roles spanning education and practice would be required, includ ing the role of lecturer practitioner and joint appointments. The aim of this paper is to report on the work of the lecturer practitioner and joint appointment roles sub group, its evaluation of the evidence to support the role within the collaborative m odel and offer proposed actions for future practice.

Using the patchwork text assessment as a vehicle for evaluating students' perceptions of their clinical leadership development

A shift in universities world wide in providing theoretical post graduate programmes of study underpinned by traditional assessment strategies to work based learning programmes supported by innovative assessment strategies is required if Higher education institutions are to effectively educate contemporary healthcare leaders. Concurrently generating the evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programmes is required by commissioners of healthcare education (DH, 2010). This paper reports on the perceptions of twelve post graduate students attending a clinical leadership masters programme of their leadership development through analysis of the critical commentary provided by students as part of assessment strategy that utilised the Patchwork Text Assessment. Following a thematic content analysis six themes emerged: programme philosophy and its impact on the success of the Patchwork Text Assessment; leadership development targeted against leadership frameworks; application and applicability of learning to the students own healthcare organisation; integrating theory to practice through theoretical development and work based activities; the value of networking; and the importance of multi-professional reflective groups. This study has clearly demonstrated how the success of the Patchwork Text Assessment in promoting deep learning is determined by its integration into the overall philosophy of the programme. Concurrently systems needed to be in place to ensure that Patchwork text Assessment is operationalised effectively and embedded within the day to day management of the programme.

Transforming community services through the use of a multidimensional model of clinical leadership

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To evaluate the application of a Multidimensional Model of Clinical Leadership on the community healthcare leader and on transforming community services. BACKGROUND Healthcare policy advocates clinical leadership as the vehicle to transform community and healthcare services. Few studies have identified the key components of an effective clinical leadership development model. DESIGN The first two stages of Kirkpatricks (Personnel Administrator 28, 1983, 62) Four/Five Levels of Evaluation were used to evaluate the application of the multidimensional model of clinical leadership. METHODS Eighty community healthcare leaders were exposed to this multidimensional clinical leadership development model through attendance of a community clinical leadership development programme. Twenty five leaders participated in focus group interviews. Data from the interviews were analysed utilising thematic content analysis. RESULTS Three key themes emerged that influenced the development of best practice principles for clinical leadership development: 1. Personal leadership development 2. Organisational leadership 3. The importance of multiprofessional action learning/reflective groups CONCLUSIONS Emergent best practice principles for clinical leadership development include adopting a multidimensional development approach. This approach encompasses: preparing the individual leader in the role and seeking organisational leadership development that promotes the vision and corporate values of the organisation and delivers on service improvement and innovation. Moreover, application of the Multidimensional Model of Clinical Leadership could offer the best platform for embedding the Six Cs of Nursing (Compassion in Practice - Our Culture of Compassionate Care, Department of Health, Crown Copyright, 2012) within the culture of the healthcare organisation: care, compassion, courage, commitment, communication, and competency. This is achieved in part through the application of emotional intelligence to understand self and to develop the personal integrity of the healthcare leader and through supporting a culture of lifelong leadership learning. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Embedding the best practice principles of clinical leadership development within a multidimensional model of clinical leadership provides a promising approach to: equipping the healthcare leader with those transferable leadership skills required to help them embark on a journey of lifelong leadership learning; and producing the healthcare leader who is caring, compassionate and can confidently and effectively transform community services.

The Development of Work-Based Learning as Part of Post-Qualifying Education: A Case Study from the School of Nursing, University of Salford, UK.

This paper describes the conception and progress to date of the development of work-based learning as part of post-qualifying education in the School of Nursing at the University of Salford. There is a changing culture in the university in relation to the delivery of programmes via non-traditional routes. In this context, work-based learning is a radical change from current teaching and learning strategies in the School of Nursing and in the university as a whole. This creative approach contrasts significantly with the more traditional methods of teaching and learning in higher education. The paper reports on the development, introduction and evaluation of a work-based learning module as a pilot project. It then outlines the development of a work-based learning degree using the lessons learnt from the pilot.