Advanced Clinical Practice courses given stamp of approval

A University team’s work ensuring two courses are tip-top for healthcare staff wanting to progress their careers, has been rewarded with an official stamp of approval.

The Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) MSc and Advanced Clinical Practitioner Apprenticeship courses are for postgraduate students who are already qualified and registered healthcare practitioners working in clinical roles.

Practitioners who complete the courses will be entered onto the Directory of Advanced Clinical Practitioners. This is a central portal that shows employers they can work at an advanced clinical level, within the realms of the four pillars of advanced practice (clinical, education, leadership, research) and have met the multiprofessional standards of advanced practice.

Having this qualification also supports ACP graduates to gain advanced clinical practice roles within healthcare, boosting their future employability prospects.

The two courses recently went through an accreditation process with Health Education England (HEE) and passed with flying colours. They received glowing commendations, including:

• Good use of evidence to demonstrate how standards were met throughout.
• The use of the Pebble Pad portfolio to foster self-directed learning and to capture the learning experience of students.
• Encouraging students to peer review written work and develop strategies to facilitate learning, together with peer-observation to support skills development.

The process involved an extensive mapping exercise led by Laura Elliott (pictured) and ACP colleagues to demonstrate and evidence how the two programmes map to HEE Standards for Advanced Practice. The UON programmes are now accredited for five years.

Laura Elliott said: “The Faculty and Programme team welcomed the opportunity to showcase our ACP programmes at UON to gain accreditation with HEE. By achieving accreditation, we demonstrate practitioners who successfully complete these courses meet the highest of standards, giving them the groundwork to continue providing excellent care for patients.

“New students enrolling on our ACP programmes can be satisfied they are undertaking a benchmarked, nationally-approved educational route into advanced practice.

The ACP programmes are just two of the many postgraduate health courses and study/work routes offered at the University. See our website for more about postgraduate study and other apprenticeships.