Opinion
Shared responsibility
Jupiter
Continuing professional development supports standards, but nurses can’t do it on their own, says Deborah Mazhindu
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL development (CPD) is expensive and time consuming and, as nurses become more specialised, finding appropriate cover to enable them to undertake it is problematic. The struggle to release nurses for CPD is compounded by an absence of useful and strategic models of succession planning in the practice setting. There is also little evidence of any real and lasting positive effects of CPD, at least in the form of careful and well planned economic evaluation and economic appraisals from nurses. However, the public and healthcare professions are exposed to dire consequences when CPD budgets are cut, such as a drop in standards of patient care and a rise in adverse events and patient complaints. CPD is expensive, but so are lawsuits from victims of iatrogenesis. In a survey undertaken by Nursing Standard (Keogh 2014), less than half of the nurses who responded said their employer or workplace paid for all CPD activities; and more than four out of five claimed they kept up to date with CPD at home and in their own time. 12 July 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 4
The cost of providing CPD is said to be the ‘biggest barrier to making revalidation work’ (RCN 2014). It is therefore the biggest challenge to having an informed, educated and fit-for-practice nursing workforce; employers ignore their responsibility for supporting CPD, in terms of protected time and money, at their peril and to the detriment of patients. Commitment The main UK health educational organisations such as Health Education England (HEE), local education and training boards (LETBs), NHS trusts and higher education institutions have all demonstrated a commitment to CPD in terms of developing leadership and ongoing educational opportunities, such as fellowships and secondment opportunities for post-graduate study. The public need and expect that NHS service personnel are all trained and educated in the most up-todate manner to deliver the safest and most effective care. To meet the goals of providing a more informed and educated workforce, to ensure
that nurses are providing person-centred services and integrated care, there needs to be not just a financial investment in CPD – so that all healthcare professionals can meet their learning and practice potentials – but also more investment in research into the positive effects of undertaking CPD. This research should involve 360° feedback, encompassing the perspectives of patients, their families and staff. Higher education institutions can help to design this research by assisting nurses in the planning, implementation and evaluation of economic appraisals of nurses’ service delivery. Using effective models of clinical supervision and protecting time and money to undertake the roles of clinical teacher and mentor also need to be recognised. CPD helps to develop and maintain standards of professional nursing, including the contributions that nurses make to facilitating active and supportive learning environments in which to nurture future healthcare professionals. The impact of undertaking CPD is not just about reflecting on practice, but also about providing a wider picture of nurses’ performance and fitness to practise, including a presentation of evidence from nurses of the impact of CPD on service delivery and patient care. Financial investment in nurses’ CPD is contingent on a number of factors, and on direct support from bodies such as the HEE and LETBs, all of which have a duty to the public, while the responsibility for undertaking and evidencing the positive effects of CPD lies with individual nurses. Deborah Mazhindu is a reader in clinical practice innovation at Buckinghamshire New University and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and consultant editor of Nursing Management
References Keogh K (2014) Pressures at work forcing staff to complete PREP in their own time. Nursing Standard. 28, 31, 9. Royal College of Nursing (2014) Response of the Royal College of Nursing to the Nursing and Midwifery Council Consultation on Revalidation. tinyurl.com/povuecq
Nursing Management reader survey To take part in a reader survey on revalidation, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/ nmrevalidation NURSING MANAGEMENT
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Dec 01, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Shared responsibility
Jupiter
Continuing professional development supports standards, but nurses can’t do it on their own, says Deborah Mazhindu
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL development (CPD) is expensive and time consuming and, as nurses become more specialised, finding appropriate cover to enable them to undertake it is problematic. The struggle to release nurses for CPD is compounded by an absence of useful and strategic models of succession planning in the practice setting. There is also little evidence of any real and lasting positive effects of CPD, at least in the form of careful and well planned economic evaluation and economic appraisals from nurses. However, the public and healthcare professions are exposed to dire consequences when CPD budgets are cut, such as a drop in standards of patient care and a rise in adverse events and patient complaints. CPD is expensive, but so are lawsuits from victims of iatrogenesis. In a survey undertaken by Nursing Standard (Keogh 2014), less than half of the nurses who responded said their employer or workplace paid for all CPD activities; and more than four out of five claimed they kept up to date with CPD at home and in their own time. 12 July 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 4
The cost of providing CPD is said to be the ‘biggest barrier to making revalidation work’ (RCN 2014). It is therefore the biggest challenge to having an informed, educated and fit-for-practice nursing workforce; employers ignore their responsibility for supporting CPD, in terms of protected time and money, at their peril and to the detriment of patients. Commitment The main UK health educational organisations such as Health Education England (HEE), local education and training boards (LETBs), NHS trusts and higher education institutions have all demonstrated a commitment to CPD in terms of developing leadership and ongoing educational opportunities, such as fellowships and secondment opportunities for post-graduate study. The public need and expect that NHS service personnel are all trained and educated in the most up-todate manner to deliver the safest and most effective care. To meet the goals of providing a more informed and educated workforce, to ensure
that nurses are providing person-centred services and integrated care, there needs to be not just a financial investment in CPD – so that all healthcare professionals can meet their learning and practice potentials – but also more investment in research into the positive effects of undertaking CPD. This research should involve 360° feedback, encompassing the perspectives of patients, their families and staff. Higher education institutions can help to design this research by assisting nurses in the planning, implementation and evaluation of economic appraisals of nurses’ service delivery. Using effective models of clinical supervision and protecting time and money to undertake the roles of clinical teacher and mentor also need to be recognised. CPD helps to develop and maintain standards of professional nursing, including the contributions that nurses make to facilitating active and supportive learning environments in which to nurture future healthcare professionals. The impact of undertaking CPD is not just about reflecting on practice, but also about providing a wider picture of nurses’ performance and fitness to practise, including a presentation of evidence from nurses of the impact of CPD on service delivery and patient care. Financial investment in nurses’ CPD is contingent on a number of factors, and on direct support from bodies such as the HEE and LETBs, all of which have a duty to the public, while the responsibility for undertaking and evidencing the positive effects of CPD lies with individual nurses. Deborah Mazhindu is a reader in clinical practice innovation at Buckinghamshire New University and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and consultant editor of Nursing Management
References Keogh K (2014) Pressures at work forcing staff to complete PREP in their own time. Nursing Standard. 28, 31, 9. Royal College of Nursing (2014) Response of the Royal College of Nursing to the Nursing and Midwifery Council Consultation on Revalidation. tinyurl.com/povuecq
Nursing Management reader survey To take part in a reader survey on revalidation, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/ nmrevalidation NURSING MANAGEMENT
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Dec 01, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
