Contemporary nursing practice is undertaken in an increasingly diverse range of settings. It is important that nurses working in all settings, with people of all ages and with diverse care needs, feel suitably equipped to do their job to the highest standard. The range of clinical skills explained in the ongoing BJN clinical and at-a-glance articles is indicative of the potential range used within nursing. Plans for further articles include skills ranging from the highly technical advanced practice skills to the more essential human skills core to the profession of nursing.
With the implementation of the revised Nursing an Midwifery Council (NMC) standards (NMC, 2018), UK universities are currently refreshing their NMC-approved programmes at all levels. This offers an opportunity to ‘future proof’ programmes by ensuring that the clinical knowledge, skills and proficiencies being learned by students will enable them to be fit for practice in an increasingly integrated, interprofessional health and social care system. This requires effective partnership between university educators, practice supervisors and practice assessors. We need to work together to ensure that skills taught in a simulated clinical practice setting in university are reinforced and applied by expert practitioners in real-time, practice-learning contexts to enable students to achieve proficiency (NMC, 2018).
Nurses across all fields need to be proficient in the use of different types of research and evidence to inform their practice and their clinical decision-making (NMC, 2018); and potentially undertake research of their own to continually improve practice. This includes being able to critically analyse the scientific, empirical basis of the range of clinical skills available and to make sound, well-informed judgements about which skills to use when, in order to deliver optimum, ethical, person-centred care.
At Northumbria University we are investing in the development of our clinical skills teaching facilities for use in recruitment, teaching and assessment activity across all of our health professions. In support of efforts to increase the number of people making nursing their career, we are showcasing our clinical skills teaching facilities at university open days and careers events, to give potential nurses of the future a glimpse of the exciting learning experiences we offer, delivered by our inspirational nurse academics. Our undergraduate and postgraduate preregistration programmes, including our 18-month nursing degree apprenticeship, have clinical skills development embedded. Alongside this, we are developing students' proficiency at research-based clinical decision-making, informed by critical thinking. Our skills centre uses cutting-edge virtual reality and immersive technology to enhance the students' experience.
Our interprofessional learning strategy offers students opportunities to learn with, from and about other professions to improve their collaborative practice skills (Barr et al, 2017). It helps them to understand how profession-specific clinical skills can be used alongside other professionals in a complementary way, to enhance care delivery. We work in partnership to deliver interprofessional simulated clinical learning experiences in conjunction with medical teams at our partnership trusts.
Nationally there is a recognised need for qualified experienced nurses and other health professionals to train as advanced clinical practitioners (Health Education England (HEE), 2019). HEE is supporting trusts to develop and implement these roles within multidisciplinary teams. At Northumbria University we have validated a Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice programme, including an apprenticeship. Both routes have a range of clinical pathways that post-qualifying students can study to become advanced practitioners in a range of settings.
Partnership working between universities and care providers is key to the advancement of clinical skills. However, it is important to keep in mind that in the delivery of cutting-edge services and clinical trials of healthcare robotics, tele-health and artificial intelligence, participants in these studies are real people, often also in need of the person-centred, dignified, compassionate support of a nurse. It is essential that in the midst of technology-enabled learning and practical skills teaching, that these human clinical skills, essential to nursing across all fields and specialties, remain a priority.