Success Highlights

Collaborative Learning in Practice is a student practice experience model that supports a coaching approach in practice rather than one to one mentoring. 

Learning in practice is a vital and substantial component of student nursing preparation, comprising some 50 per cent of dedicated learning time and is central to developing a competent and compassionate nursing workforce.

This project is gaining national recognition because not only does it help with placement capacity but early feedback demonstrates that it significantly enhances the quality of the learning environment.

In partnership with Health Education East of England and our practice partners including Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, James Paget University Hospital, East Coast Community Healthcare, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust we have been piloting an exciting project to deliver a different way of practice learning called Collaborative Learning in Practice (CLiP)™.

For more information on this licensing opportunity, please visit the CLiP UEA webpage.

In March 2020 the School of Health Sciences was successful in the submission of a tender to evaluate and make recommendations to Health Education England that supports the future career and competency framework development relating to the ACP (Specialist Midwife and Consultant Midwife) role. The framework will provide guidance on the competencies, skills, knowledge and behaviours that midwifery ACPs will need to provide high quality care in line with the vision outlined within ‘Better Births’.

The project is being led by Professor Kenda Crozier with specialist input from Jayne Needham, Helen Meehan, Ruth Sanders and Dr Georgina Sosa. The award of £25,000 will fund the evaluation which is due to be completed by November 2020. During the project the team will collate evidence, review and evaluate current education and training programmes for advanced clinical practice, what competency frameworks are currently in use, examples of midwifery ACP job descriptions and examples of innovative practice relating to midwifery ACPs. The project also aims to collate evidence and evaluate examples of good practice across the NHS.

In January 2020 the Learning Disability Nursing team were awarded just over £46,000 by Health Education England to deliver Phase One of the comprehensive review of the national Learning Disabilities Workforce: Adult Enhanced Community Services, Children’s and Young People’s Enhanced Community Services and Autism Specific Service Provision & Evaluation of New and Emerging Roles.

The project will see the University working collaboratively with NHSE/I and HEE. Phase One of the project involves scoping out the workforce needs with key stakeholders to gain an understanding of current workforce needs, skills gaps and potential challenges in supply that may require the development of national solutions such as adoption of new roles and/or new ways of working that would address known areas of need such as Autism diagnosis and post diagnosis service gaps; Specialist medical input to physical healthcare in the community; Enablement/Re-enablement from hospital to community settings and Enhanced crisis response/support for children and young people in the community. The project also looks to identify opportunities for good practice.

Based on the delivery of Phase One by the team consisting of Shanice Thomas, Kirsty Henry, Sarah Richardson and Stuart Higgins, led by project lead Neil James, HEE have now awarded a further £55,000 to the School of Health Sciences to undertake Phase Two. Phase two involves the identification and evaluation of the most effective and scalable roles. The evaluation will take into consideration how these new and emerging roles will link and engage with other roles, the new ways of working and system challenges aligned to proposed solutions and provide a clearer understanding of required and suitable roles to be developed.

Our Innovation team, in collaboration with the UEA Apprenticeship Lead, has successfully gained School entry to the End Point Assessment (EPA) register with the Education Skills Agency. Since this achievement we have had successful submissions to the EPA Register for Nursing and Nursing Associates. We are currently taking bookings from across the Eastern of England, London and South East England to provide EPA services from January 2020 onwards. Health Education England (HEE) has invited us to be part of a national steering group to map capacity and capability for End Point Assessments for Nursing Associates across England, developing standardised assessment tools and training materials for assessors.

In November 2019, Professor Kenda Crozier, Professor Zoe Butterfint and Associate Professor Julia Hubbard attended an international conference hosted by the Praboromarajchanok Institute in Bangkok, where the UEA acted as a conference co-host.  The institute is the umbrella organisation for 36  Ministry of Public Health nursing colleges across Thailand.

Professor Crozier presented a keynote on ‘creating education programmes to meet the demands of changing healthcare’ (link to photo of kenda) whilst Professor Butterfint and Associate Professor Hubbard chaired concurrent sessions and took part in judging competitions (for best themed lecture category) for presentations from internationally recognised speakers from Europe, Japan, China, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and USA on a range of ‘health reform and innovation’ lectures.

The HSC academics also visited Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Chiang Mai as visiting scholars to present lectures on innovation and health care partnerships. Professor Crozier led workshops on writing for publication and preparing applications. The event was exceptionally successful and attended by participants from across northern Thailand.

Due to the success of both of these events, HSC has been invited to Chiang Mai in August 2020, where Associate Professor Hubbard will accompany ten HSC undergraduate students for a two-week observational clinical/education/cultural placement, undertake workshops with Boromarajonani college academic staff and spend some time working clinically (as an expert practitioner) in the cardiac unit at Nakornping Hospital, Chiang Mai.

HSC/UEA (led by Professor Crozier) have been invited by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health to co-host the next international health conference in November 2020 in Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand with the Dean of HSC, Professor Sally Hardy joining them as a key note speaker at the event.

A memoranda of understanding (MoU) sets out opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to their mutual benefit, without the need for a formal legal relationship.

A memoranda of understanding (MoU) sets out opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to their mutual benefit, without the need for a formal legal relationship.

A memoranda of understanding (MoU) sets out opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to their mutual benefit, without the need for a formal legal relationship.

A memoranda of understanding (MoU) sets out opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to their mutual benefit, without the need for a formal legal relationship.

Recognised ALS Instructors from several disciplines, including paramedics, anaesthetists, a GP trainee, an Operating Department Practitioner and HSC lecturers delivered the Resuscitation Council (RC) Advanced Life Support (ALS) certification programme according to Resuscitation Council guidelines.

Tony Jermy hosted eight nursing students and three academics, who took part in theoretical and practical teaching sessions, gained access to real healthcare users, toured the University Hospital and explored UEA’s innovative Norwich Electronic Assistive Technology (NEAT) Centre.​

A memoranda of understanding (MoU) sets out opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to their mutual benefit, without the need for a formal legal relationship.

Held in the Norwich Electronic Assistive Technology Centre, carers, clinicians and academics discovered the latest augmented and alternative communication technologies.

A memoranda of understanding (MoU) sets out opportunities for collaboration and positive academic engagement between universities to their mutual benefit, without the need for a formal legal relationship.