Nursing Associate Programme

First Year

• Professional Values and Scope of Practice
• Delivering Care
• Person Centred Care
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills
• Work Based Learning Portfolio 

Second Year

• Duty of Care, Candour, Equality and Diversity
• Research, Development and Leadership
• Team Working and Leadership
• Supporting Learning and Assessment in Practice
• Work Based Learning Portfolio

A wide range of teaching and learning methods are used on this programme including:

• Case studies to ensure that trainees are able to link the underpinning theory to the patient/client group within their own practice setting
• Guest lecturing to ensure that all practice areas can be represented to support the trainees’ ability to develop knowledge specific their areas
• Simulation which facilitates the learning of new skills within a safe environment and allows trainees to have an understanding of some situations which may be rarely seen within practice
• Scenarios to ensure that trainees relate theory to practical experiences
• Small group work to enable the deeper exploration of topics within smaller groups
• Action learning sets to enable trainees to develop an effective relationship with individuals from across different settings to share knowledge and experience; it is anticipated that action learning sets will remain unchanged throughout the programme
• Workshops to develop specific learning around a key topic e.g. sample collection
• Reflection to ensure that trainees learn from prior experiences and develop action plans to address learning needs
• Student presentations to develop confidence in relaying information to others
• Focused tutorials to ensure that trainees are prepared for assessments. This aims to facilitate the trainees’ ability to integrate theory with practice and meet the diverse needs of the group include teaching methods, programme study, teaching hours, personal study

Trainees will be assessed through work-based learning and a variety of academic assessments such as exams, reflective writing, essays, presentations and case studies.

What supervision do trainees need?

Trainees will need a registered healthcare professional to take the lead in supporting them through each placement experience (a Supervisor); they will need to be able to work alongside them and support trainees to access a range of opportunities to facilitate the achievement of outcomes.

Will trainees be supernumerary?

No. Trainees will still be employed and able to undertake their existing role; however they need to be supported to undertake learning in practice under the supervision of a registered professional which may mean that they have to be relieved of certain duties.

Pathway opportunities should be supported to enable trainees to experience and understand the patient journey.