Quality with Compassion: the Future of Nursing Education. Report of the Willis Commission on Nursing Education, 2012
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Willis Commission 2012 Quality with Compassion: the future of nursing education Report of the Willis Commission 2012 B1 Willis Commission 2012 Title: Quality with compassion: the future of nursing education. Report of the Willis Commission on Nursing Education, 2012. Key words: Nursing, education, future of health care Target readership: Policy-makers and policy analysts; health service users and their organizations; nursing practitioners, educators, managers, researchers and students; higher education institutions; chairs, directors and managers of organizations providing and commissioning health services, education and training; regulatory and professional bodies in the UK. Publisher details: Published by the Royal College of Nursing on behalf of the independent Willis Commission on Nursing Education. © 2012 Royal College of Nursing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by ways of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the publisher. Website and archive: www.williscommission.org.uk until early 2013, then www.rcn.org.uk/williscommission ISBN: 978-1-908782-27-4 Printed on a mixture of sustainably resourced papers 2 Willis Commission 2012 Contents Chairman’s introduction 4 Summary 6 Part 1: Introduction 7 1.1 Why the commission was established 7 1.2 Terms of reference 9 1.3 The commission’s programme of work 9 Part 2: An overview of nursing education 11 2.1 The story so far 12 2.2 Nursing education today 13 2.3 The higher education sector 15 2.4 Commissioning and funding nursing education 16 2.5 Changes in the nursing workforce 19 2.6 Regulation 22 Part 3: What we learned 23 3.1 Views from service users and carers 23 3.2 Other evidence and views 24 Part 4: The way forward 27 Theme 1 The future nursing workforce 27 Theme 2 Degree-level registration 29 Theme 3 Learning to nurse 32 Theme 4 Continuing professional development 36 Theme 5 Patient and public involvement in nursing education 39 Theme 6 Infrastructure 40 Part 5: Conclusions and recommendations 43 References 47 Appendices 51 B3 Willis Commission 2012 Introduction from Lord Willis It was my privilege to be entrusted physiotherapy, and there is to chair the Willis Commission, absolutely no evidence to support with the freedom to take evidence them in nursing. from the widest possible group of stakeholders, including The roles of tomorrow’s nurses patients. I would like to thank the will be even more demanding commissioners, expert reviewers and specialised, and will require and advisers, who gave their time even greater reserves of self- generously to help prepare this determination and leadership as report in such a short timescale. health care moves into a myriad I must also pay tribute to the of settings outside hospital. Our significant number of organizations education system must produce and individuals who contributed nurses who have both intellect and written and oral submissions, compassion, not one or the other. demonstrating passion and commitment to getting nursing The foundations of high quality education right. modern nursing education are already in place. The new Nursing Our brief was straightforward and Midwifery Council (NMC) and focused: standards command widespread support, and universities have What essential features of pre- responded well to develop registration nursing education in curriculums that reflect changing the UK, and what types of support patterns of care. Service users for newly registered practitioners, and their representatives should, are needed to create and maintain however, be more closely involved Health professionals in the 21st a workforce of competent, in both recruitment and education, century work in multidisciplinary compassionate nurses fit to as modern nursing must focus teams to improve the quality of deliver future health and social primarily on them as individuals and care and health outcomes. If patient- care services? not simply on treating conditions. centred care in acute and community settings is to become the norm, as It was neither new nor novel. Neither is the requirement to put the Briggs report recommended Countless inquiries and reports evidence-based care at the heart of 40 years ago, the nurse must be a have been conducted over many nursing education fully met as yet. professional among equals, and be decades seeking ways to improve Nursing scholarship is relatively seen as one, not a handmaiden to nursing education and training. new and research must play a more other professionals (Committee on Sadly, although many of the significant role in determining Nursing 1972). The need to produce recommendations have been best practice. Encouraging nurses competent, confident, critical- blindingly obvious, there has been to question practice constantly thinking nurses with the ability to insufficient political or professional and look for evidence to improve lead, to question and to be questioned will to implement them fully. I performance will improve patient should be at the heart of modern pre- hope that will not be the fate of outcomes. Research must not be registration education programmes. this report. seen as an optional extra for the sake of a graduate programme. Given the concerns expressed about We found the case for moving to To encourage this vital part of the modern nursing profession an all-graduate nursing profession the education process, greater in many sections of the media, not simply desirable, but essential. attention must be paid to the next the decision by the Royal College Indeed we found it totally illogical generation of nursing academics of Nursing (RCN) to establish to claim that by increasing the and facilitating their work in both an independent commission intellectual requirements for academic and clinical settings. to examine the ‘health’ of pre- nursing, essential for professional registration nursing education was responsibilities such as prescribing, The commission was also struck a courageous one. The RCN is to recruits will be less caring or by the persuasive argument that be applauded – few professions compassionate. Such accusations the pre-registration programme enjoy the public standing of nursing are seldom made against other provides the basis on which to build and any challenge to that standing all-graduate professions such a lifelong nursing career. The notion should be addressed. as medicine, midwifery or that nurses can be educated in a 4 Willis Commission 2012 silo, and that following registration they are the finished article, could Acronyms used in this report not be further from the truth. This is why high quality mentorship, CPD Continuing professional preceptorship and continuing development professional development are crucial CQC Care Quality Commission to improving patient outcomes. EU European Union Nursing education thrives when HCA Healthcare assistant all staff, from medics to healthcare HEE Health Education England assistants, are constantly having HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council their skills refreshed and updated for England – including the development of HEI Higher education institution teamwork. We hope that policy- IPE Interprofessional education makers, employers, universities LETB Local education and training board and professional bodies recognise MPET Multiprofessional education and and act on this challenge. training levy HCSW Healthcare support worker Finally, we have been both NHS National Health Service humbled and excited by the NIPEC Northern Ireland Practice and enormous dedication, intellect, Education Council for Nursing compassion and altruism that shone and Midwifery through the many submissions NMC Nursing and Midwifery Council and presentations. Indeed the NMET Non-medical education and message was the same wherever training levy the commission took evidence NQN Newly qualified nurse throughout the UK – the desire to NVQ National vocational qualification provide tomorrow’s nurses with the OU Open University very best opportunities to offer the RCN Royal College of Nursing very best care. Nowhere was this RN Registered nurse more apparent than when we met SHA Strategic health authority nursing students, whose ability to SIFT Service increment for teaching articulate their ambitions and their SVQ Scottish vocational qualification desire to nurse was awe-inspiring. UKCC UK Central Council for Nursing, Valuing what students bring to their Midwifery and Health Visiting education is crucial: they are the WHO World Health Organization leaders of tomorrow and it is their voices that must be heard. All quotations in italics in this report are taken from written and oral evidence submitted to the commission. Lord Willis of Knaresborough Commission chairman B5 Willis Commission 2012 Summary Patient-centred care should selection processes, attrition rates and providers of health care and be the golden thread that runs and course outcomes. Rigorous education within and outside through all pre-registration research on curriculum evaluation the NHS. nursing education and continuing at the micro and macro level professional development. The focus should investigate content, process This work must be based on must be on helping service users, and outcome. robust evidence-based planning.