Nursing associate trainers
Posted on 5 December 2016
Health Education England (HEE) announced that the Foundation Trust would be included in the second tranche of test bed sites for the new nursing associate role.
Some 20 nursing associates will start their training in spring 2017. They will work alongside existing nursing care support workers and fully-qualified registered nurses to deliver hands-on care for patients.
The role has been developed to enable nurses to focus on the more advanced elements of their jobs and to offer improved career pathway opportunities to emerging talent.
The Trust will work in partnership with the Department of Health Sciences to deliver the curriculum framework.
Professor Vanessa Taylor, Deputy Head of Nursing, Midwifery and Professional Programmes, Department of Health Sciences, said: “This collaboration between York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Department of Health Sciences, University of York, offers an exciting opportunity to build on the established relationship between our organisations in preparing assistant practitioners, nurses and midwives for the local workforce.
“Our partnership working, and delivering the Foundation Degree programme for trainee nursing associates, will underpin the scope and flexible work-based preparation for the trainee nursing associate and the nursing associate role. It will also help us to work together developing future programmes to define a pathway for those nursing associates looking for a career in nursing."
Beverley Geary, Chief Nurse, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “It is important that we build a workforce to meet the changing needs of the people we care for. The new nursing associate role will be a part of a team built around those needs and will provide an exciting opportunity for those who want to progress their careers in the field of health and care.
“The new role also has clear benefits for registered nurses, providing additional support and releasing time to provide the assessment and care they are trained to do, as well as undertake more advanced tasks. This will ensure we use the right skills, in the right place and at the right time.”
Becky Hoskins, Assistant Director of Nursing - Workforce, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust adds: “The introduction of nursing associates is a positive and welcome step forward and I look forward to following progress made as training begins.”
24 sites across the country have been selected in this new tranche to deliver the training over two years, joining 11 sites announced in October. The sites bring together a wide range of organisations including educational institutions, care homes, acute, community and mental health trusts and hospices, representing the variety of places where nursing associates will provide care for patients.
Professor Lisa Bayliss Pratt, Director of Nursing and Deputy Director of Education and Quality, HEE, said: “The high level of interest in delivering training for this important role means that we have been able to select even more sites to take forward the training.
“It further underlines the real appetite for helping to deliver this new role which we believe can provide a real benefit to the nursing and care workforce across a range of settings and play a key role in the delivery of patient care with safety at its heart.”
Health Education England is the body responsible for planning and developing the healthcare and public health workforce.