Future Journeys: Post Graduate Education in Nursing & Midwifery

Professor Brian J WebsterAssistant Dean, Faculty of Health Life Social Sciences

Vice Chair Council of Deans of Health UK

Chair Scottish Heads of Academic Nursing & Allied Health Professions

What this presentation is not

• This is not about elitism in the profession of nursing on midwifery “Academia has to remember that it is not self-serving but must relate meaningfully to the services of its discipline” (Bishop 2009)

• It’s not about a need for all nurses to have a Masters Degree

• It wont concentrate on the range of Post Graduate Education and the role Universities have to play

• It wont focus on old and outdated arguments – such as mastery, or a stepped approach to education (BN – practice – Masters – practice – PhD/Education/ Management

• The need for post graduate prepared nurses in clinical practice

• The emphasis on discovering self, learning about self and the development of a range of attributes that inform practice, leadership, interventions

• The need for our disciplines to change the emphasis on our career pathways

• Global changes in learning beyond registration education at postgraduate level

But what it will focus on is:

• Nursing to Universities early 1990’s• NHS and New Right politics – market forces• Project 2000 – all academics having degrees• Diploma preparation• 2010 – All graduate preparation• Future……….???

Historical perspectives

• Recent years a plethora of policy responses to address the “crisis in nursing” – at the heart of many nurse education and the challenge of degree preparation

• Recently seen the “Shape of Caring” – a plethora of recommendations – which could pose challenges and change to our discipline

• “p” policy – at local and organisational level

Policy perspective;

Global Perspectives• USA – consideration of Doctoral preparation for Advanced

Clinical Practice (seen this in physiotherapy in USA)• Australia/New Zealand – changes to learning beyond

registration in Masters and Doctoral programmes

• UK – pre registration Masters degrees

Patient Care

New Knowledge

Analytical Skills

Leadership Skills

Self development

Learning Beyond Registration

• Too much emphasis on organisational change – rather than the development of robust pathways producing leaders in clinical practice

• Achieving change v’s moving the profession forward• How to lead – approaches to leadership• ……………BUT

Clinical Academic Leadership

• At the heart of the goal of nursing leadership :

Moving the discipline forward

Strengthening the role of nursing interventions

Improving outcomes and enhancing patient benefit

Professional aspiration

(Macleod Clark 2014)• Reason to celebrate Early Clinical Career Fellowships• The start of a journey a springboard to demonstration of a

new approach to leadership in clinical practice• Impact of nursing practice interventions on clinical

outcomes or health benefits (Wong & Cummings 2007)

Clinical Academic Leadership

• Key to professional confidence (public confidence) lies in the pursuit of new knowledge

• The embedding of evidence based practice from scientific routes

• Clinical Professors – pinnacle of medical career• 6% of medical workforce in UK are clinical academics

(Medical Schools Council 2011) ….an• Nursing - lacks an infrastructure, lacks funding, has been

slow in career development and professional leadership• RCN 2013 - approximately 262 nursing Chairs in the UK,

less than 40 in joint clinical academic roles = 0.02% workforce

Learning from others:

• We are where we are and we need to celebrate your achievements

• It also means there is room for further aspiration• Discipline needs clinical academic leaders• Discipline needs skilled, knowledgeable, motivated

practitioners with a desire to advance new nursing knowledge and interventions – to radically benefit patient outcomes

• Discipline needs an infrastructure, funding and support

So what does that mean for us?

You can move nursing and midwifery forward in a way that we have not seen before; progressing professional leadership, nursing interventions and utilising your new knowledge, skills and self awareness

(Webster 2015)

Finally

Bishop, V. (2009). “Health care research in context: global influences and individual aspirations”. Journal of Research in Nursing. 14, 99 – 101.

Macleod Clark, J. (2014). ‘Guest editorial”. Journal of Research in Nursing. 19 (2) 98 – 101

Medical Schools Council (2011). A Survey of Staffing Levels of Medical Clinical Academics in UK Medical Schools. London. Medical Schools Council.

Royal College of Nursing (2013). Available atwww.rcn.org.uk/development/research_andinnovation/career/nursing_professoriate_survey_2013

Wong, C. and Cummings, G. (2007). “The relationship between nursing leadership and patient outcomes: A systematic review”. Journal of Nursing Management. 15, 508 – 521.

References