NEWS
Supervised placements will be scrapped for staff coming to UK By Christian Duffin Nurses from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) looking to work in the UK will no longer have to complete supervised practice placements, under changes introduced by the nursing regulator. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is scrapping its requirements for candidates to carry out 20 days of ‘protected learning’ and 3-12 months on a supervised practice placement. Instead, nurses from overseas will take a two-stage competency test, made up of an online multiple-choice exam, which can be taken in an applicant’s home country, plus a practical ‘objective structured clinical examination’. Nurses from outside the EEA will still have to meet other NMC requirements, such as possessing a good standard of English. NMC director of registration Alison Sansome said difficulties in finding supervised placements have caused a ‘bottleneck’ of applicants waiting for one for unacceptably long periods. The competency test will provide enhanced public protection because it assesses candidates’ ‘up-to-date knowledge and skills’, she added.
Practice concerns
But some workforce experts argue that the new system may not be rigorous enough to assess nurses’ fitness to practise. Assistant director of adult community health services at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, Felicia Kwaku, has concerns about the change. ‘I do not know how you can replace supervision,’ she said. ‘When you supervise someone for
3-12 months, you can assess them thoroughly and see them in action. You can also test their values and culture. How can you do these things online? We have to monitor this situation carefully.’ Health and social care workforce expert Keith Hurst said scrapping supervised practice means nurses will be ‘let loose’ in the UK without thorough checks on their understanding of the system or their competency. ‘We have seen some disasters in medicine when there are not sufficient checks on doctors,’ said Mr Hurst.
‘I appreciate that it can be difficult arranging placements, but if you have an online test of competency instead, some applicants may get someone else to do it for them.’ NMC council members voted through the changes at a council meeting last week. The NMC said it will use biometric technology to help ensure that candidates do not rope in colleagues to take the online test for them. The competency test will be more objective than simply assessing hours of study, a spokesperson added.
NURSE-LED DAY UNIT CUTS ADMISSIONS A day care unit that provides blood transfusions and intravenous therapies is helping patients avoid long stays in hospital, nurses have told Welsh health minister Mark Drakeford. Professor Drakeford (pictured with, left to right, Sister Corinne Hocking, Sister Amanda Durbar, director of nursing and midwifery Angela Hopkins and Sister Wendy Tee) toured the nurse-led assessment and therapy unit at Llandudno Hospital in Wales last week. The unit
allows patients with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis to be treated without being admitted. Sister Hocking said: ‘It is about developing care pathways with primary and secondary care to reduce admissions and enable patients to be discharged.’ Professor Drakeford, who also visited a pilot project to improve the health of people in residential homes in Conwy, said: ‘These projects show how the Welsh NHS is adapting to meet the needs of patients.’
NURSING by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. august :: voluses 28without no 49 ::permission. 2014 9 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com No 6other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Supervised placements will be scrapped for staff coming to UK By Christian Duffin Nurses from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) looking to work in the UK will no longer have to complete supervised practice placements, under changes introduced by the nursing regulator. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is scrapping its requirements for candidates to carry out 20 days of ‘protected learning’ and 3-12 months on a supervised practice placement. Instead, nurses from overseas will take a two-stage competency test, made up of an online multiple-choice exam, which can be taken in an applicant’s home country, plus a practical ‘objective structured clinical examination’. Nurses from outside the EEA will still have to meet other NMC requirements, such as possessing a good standard of English. NMC director of registration Alison Sansome said difficulties in finding supervised placements have caused a ‘bottleneck’ of applicants waiting for one for unacceptably long periods. The competency test will provide enhanced public protection because it assesses candidates’ ‘up-to-date knowledge and skills’, she added.
Practice concerns
But some workforce experts argue that the new system may not be rigorous enough to assess nurses’ fitness to practise. Assistant director of adult community health services at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, Felicia Kwaku, has concerns about the change. ‘I do not know how you can replace supervision,’ she said. ‘When you supervise someone for
3-12 months, you can assess them thoroughly and see them in action. You can also test their values and culture. How can you do these things online? We have to monitor this situation carefully.’ Health and social care workforce expert Keith Hurst said scrapping supervised practice means nurses will be ‘let loose’ in the UK without thorough checks on their understanding of the system or their competency. ‘We have seen some disasters in medicine when there are not sufficient checks on doctors,’ said Mr Hurst.
‘I appreciate that it can be difficult arranging placements, but if you have an online test of competency instead, some applicants may get someone else to do it for them.’ NMC council members voted through the changes at a council meeting last week. The NMC said it will use biometric technology to help ensure that candidates do not rope in colleagues to take the online test for them. The competency test will be more objective than simply assessing hours of study, a spokesperson added.
NURSE-LED DAY UNIT CUTS ADMISSIONS A day care unit that provides blood transfusions and intravenous therapies is helping patients avoid long stays in hospital, nurses have told Welsh health minister Mark Drakeford. Professor Drakeford (pictured with, left to right, Sister Corinne Hocking, Sister Amanda Durbar, director of nursing and midwifery Angela Hopkins and Sister Wendy Tee) toured the nurse-led assessment and therapy unit at Llandudno Hospital in Wales last week. The unit
allows patients with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis to be treated without being admitted. Sister Hocking said: ‘It is about developing care pathways with primary and secondary care to reduce admissions and enable patients to be discharged.’ Professor Drakeford, who also visited a pilot project to improve the health of people in residential homes in Conwy, said: ‘These projects show how the Welsh NHS is adapting to meet the needs of patients.’
NURSING by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. august :: voluses 28without no 49 ::permission. 2014 9 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com No 6other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
