TY - JOUR
T1 - Primary care trainee nursing associates in England
T2 - A qualitative study of higher education institution perspectives
AU - Robertson, Steve
AU - King, Rachel
AU - Taylor, Bethany
AU - Laker, Sara
AU - Wood, Emily
AU - Senek, Michaela
AU - Tod, Angela
AU - Ryan, Tony
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2023/1/9
Y1 - 2023/1/9
N2 - Aim: To explore higher education institution (HEI) perspectives on the development and implementation of trainee nursing associates (NAs) in the primary care workforce in England. Background: Current shortages of primary health care staff have led to innovative skill mix approaches in attempts to maintain safe and effective care. In England, a new level of nursing practice, NAs, was introduced and joined the workforce in 2019. This role was envisaged as a way of bridging the skills gap between health care assistants and registered nurses and as an alternative route into registered nursing. However, there is limited evidence on programme development and implementation of trainee NAs within primary care settings and HEI perspectives on this. Methods: This paper draws from a larger qualitative study of HEI perspectives on the trainee NA programme. Twenty-seven staff involved in training NAs, from five HEIs across England, were interviewed from June to September 2021. The interview schedule specifically included questions relating to primary care. Data relating to primary care were extracted and analysed using a combined framework and thematic analysis approach. Findings: Three themes were developed: 'Understanding the trainee role and requirements', 'Trainee support in primary care' and 'Skills and scope of practice'. It is apparent that a more limited understanding of the NA programme requirements can lead to difficulties in accessing the right support for trainees in primary care. This can create challenges for trainees in gaining the required competencies and uncertainty in understanding what constitutes a safe scope of practice within the role for both employers and trainees. It might be anticipated that as this new programme becomes more embedded in primary care, a greater understanding will develop, support will improve and the nature and scope of this new level of practice will become clearer.
AB - Aim: To explore higher education institution (HEI) perspectives on the development and implementation of trainee nursing associates (NAs) in the primary care workforce in England. Background: Current shortages of primary health care staff have led to innovative skill mix approaches in attempts to maintain safe and effective care. In England, a new level of nursing practice, NAs, was introduced and joined the workforce in 2019. This role was envisaged as a way of bridging the skills gap between health care assistants and registered nurses and as an alternative route into registered nursing. However, there is limited evidence on programme development and implementation of trainee NAs within primary care settings and HEI perspectives on this. Methods: This paper draws from a larger qualitative study of HEI perspectives on the trainee NA programme. Twenty-seven staff involved in training NAs, from five HEIs across England, were interviewed from June to September 2021. The interview schedule specifically included questions relating to primary care. Data relating to primary care were extracted and analysed using a combined framework and thematic analysis approach. Findings: Three themes were developed: 'Understanding the trainee role and requirements', 'Trainee support in primary care' and 'Skills and scope of practice'. It is apparent that a more limited understanding of the NA programme requirements can lead to difficulties in accessing the right support for trainees in primary care. This can create challenges for trainees in gaining the required competencies and uncertainty in understanding what constitutes a safe scope of practice within the role for both employers and trainees. It might be anticipated that as this new programme becomes more embedded in primary care, a greater understanding will develop, support will improve and the nature and scope of this new level of practice will become clearer.
KW - education nursing
KW - health workforce
KW - nursing associates
KW - second level nursing
KW - staffing
KW - United Kingdom
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85145966107&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S146342362200072X
DO - 10.1017/S146342362200072X
M3 - Article
C2 - 36617862
AN - SCOPUS:85145966107
SN - 1463-4236
VL - 24
JO - Primary health care research & development
JF - Primary health care research & development
M1 - e3
ER -