ABSTRACT
AIMS: This paper explores the collaborative development of a Master's level advanced practice programme in the context of the radical reform and remodelling of the UK's National Health Service. Some of the educational, managerial and practice challenges are discussed. BACKGROUND: Changes to education and training in response to key strategic reviews undertaken by the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority (North West of England) established a need to develop nurses and allied health care practitioners to advanced practitioner level. This paper considers how employers, commissioners and educationalists worked together to produce a Master's level programme to prepare nurses and other health care practitioners for sustainable advanced practice roles. KEY ISSUES: Developing innovative and effective curricula to meet the needs of post graduate students from varied backgrounds preparing to practice in different contexts with different client groups is challenging. However, the development of individual learning pathways and work-based learning ensures that the student's work and intended advanced practice role remains at the centre of their learning. Analysis of each student's knowledge and skill deficits alongside an analysis of the organization's readiness to support them as qualified advanced practitioners (APs) is instrumental in ensuring that organizations are ready to support practitioners in new roles. CONCLUSION: Work-based learning and collaboration between students, employers and higher education institutions can be used to enable managers and students to unravel the network of factors which affect advanced practice in health and social care. Additionally, collaborative working can help to create opportunities to develop strategies that will facilitate change. Implications for nursing management Sustainable change concerned with the introduction of advanced practitioner roles present a real challenge for managers at a strategic and operational level. Commissioning flexible, collaborative and service-led educational programmes can assist in ensuring that change is sustainable and produce practitioners who are fit for practice, purpose and award.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing, Graduate/organization & administration , Health Care Reform/organization & administration , Nurse Clinicians , Nurse Practitioners , Program Development/methods , Workplace/organization & administration , Curriculum , Employment/organization & administration , England , Humans , Interinstitutional Relations , Needs Assessment/organization & administration , Nurse Administrators/organization & administration , Nurse Administrators/psychology , Nurse Clinicians/education , Nurse Clinicians/organization & administration , Nurse Practitioners/education , Nurse Practitioners/organization & administration , Nurse's Role , Patient-Centered Care/organization & administration , Personnel Selection/organization & administration , Professional Autonomy , Professional Competence , State Medicine/organization & administration , Training SupportABSTRACT
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To describe recent advances in the development of mental health needs screening tools for use with young offenders and implications for this vulnerable group. RECENT FINDINGS: The literature shows that young offenders in North America and Europe have high levels of diverse needs that often go unmet because of lack of methods for recognizing and assessing them. Effective screening could play an important role in improving recognition of these needs. Substantial developments have been occurring in the United States, England and Wales and the Netherlands in developing screening tools for this purpose and for this population. Now, the literature is beginning to provide a broad understanding of the optimal psychometric properties, utility and limitations of the screening tools that are required. SUMMARY: Several centres are engaged in work to construct mental health screening and assessment tools for use with young offenders. Psychometric measures are being used to determine their validity and reliability. The work has highlighted deficiencies in the healthcare of young persons involved in criminal justice systems but should assist policymakers, healthcare strategists, planners and commissioners to come to better informed decisions about how to utilize most appropriately the limited mental health expertise that is available and how to enhance awareness of nonhealth professionals of basic mental health risks, problems and disorders.
Subject(s)
Juvenile Delinquency/classification , Mental Status Schedule/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Humans , Juvenile Delinquency/statistics & numerical data , Mass Screening/methods , Reproducibility of Results , Surveys and Questionnaires , United Kingdom/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Developments within health care services for young offenders have traditionally lagged behind those for general child and adolescent populations. Screening and diagnostic assessment instruments commonly used in general child and adolescent mental health care do not meet the special requirements of forensic populations. This article describes some general aspects of screening and assessment in this population, followed by a description of four specific instruments.
