Assistant practitioners: their role with children in secondary care.

Assistant practitioners (APs) can help to address a variety of locally or nationally recognised deficits in healthcare services to children and their families. However, as well as training and supervision, APs should have formal registration, and the role should be continuously appraised as it develops. The ways in which APs can support clinical nursing teams in delivering secondary health care to children, young people and their families is discussed.

Managers' experience of training the associate practitioner role.

Aim: This paper documents findings from a service evaluation of clinical managers' (n = 5) perceptions of the assistant practitioner (AP) training programme in one National Health Service (NHS) Trust in South East England, UK.

Background: The AP has been identified in England as a means for supporting registered nurses and enhancing patient care. The development of the AP role requires managers to consider how the role will be embedded and how they work with education providers.

The role of assistant practitioner for children and young people.

Research in the adult health sector shows that the assistant practitioner (AP) role, at band 4 (Skills for Health Expert Paper 2011), has been a useful addition to healthcare teams. However, the introduction of this role in the healthcare sector for children and young people has been slow. This article offers an overview of UK research on the role and suggests scenarios in which APs can be employed usefully in child healthcare settings.

Meeting changing service need through role development: a case study for Band 4 assistant practitioners.

Aim: To debate the evolution of the Assistant Practitioner (AP) role and its impact on workforce development and Higher Education provision.

Background: The Band 4, AP, has been identified in England as a means for supporting Registered Nurses and enhancing patient care. However, the education and training of Band 4 AP requires new ways of partnership working between Trusts and Higher Education Institutions (HIEs) to ensure that programmes reflect employers needs and that the AP is fit for purpose.

Shared education for professionals in child care.

A shared foundation year at the start of educational pathways for professionals and others who will be working with children has two main objectives: acquisition of knowledge and skills common to the different disciplines and development of flexible practitioners who understand the many roles in child care and can adapt as new roles emerge. A Foundation Degree in Children and Families developed at Canterbury Christ Church University was designed to provide a knowledge and skills base suitable for any worker in this field. Clear definition by regulatory bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council of roles that exist and new roles that emerge are needed to help ensure clarity for progression through the available educational pathways.

Is a CCN degree the only way to develop children's nursing in the community?

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with convenience samples 10 CCN students completing a community children's nursing (CCN) degree programme and with five practice educators. In addition, focus group interviews were held with 28 child branch students who had undertaken community experience. The objective was to find out the perceived value of undertaking a community children's nursing degree.