Evaluation of the specialist community public health nursing peripatetic assessment model

Deave, Toity; Novak, Claire; Brook, Judy; Salmon, Debra

Abstract

The Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-15: a call to action, called for an additional 4200 health visitors to be trained by 2015. To accommodate larger numbers of students, specialist community public health nursing (SCPHN) programmes across the UK have undergone significant transformation in terms of practice supervision. Somerset Partnership NHS Trust introduced a peripatetic assessment model involving practice teachers and practice mentors. This differed from traditional one-to-one approaches of supervision to one-to-three. Practice teachers mostly supervised students through close collaboration with mentors who worked directly with students on a daily basis. Using a mixed methods approach, the evaluation aimed to assess the effectiveness of the new model from the perspective of SCPHN students, mentors, practice teachers (PTs) and managers. Data were collected through an anonymous online survey and individual interviews or focus groups. Overall, participants were positive about the peripatetic model’s impact on student learning and practice experience, in addition to the general up-skilling of the wider health visiting workforce and possible implications of continuation into the future. Any concerns raised focused on adequate preparation and support for mentors and the need for clear communication and role differentiation between practice teachers and mentors.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 18, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 10, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 10, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 22, 2017
• Journal: Community Practitioner
• Print ISSN: 1462-2815
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 90
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 45-47
• Keywords: evaluation, health visitor implementation plan, supervision, practice teachers, SCPHN students
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/883004
• Publisher URL: http://www.communitypractitioner.co.uk/resources/2017/07/evaluation-specialist-community-public-health-nursing-peripatetic-assessment-model
• Contract Date: Aug 10, 2017