MSc ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE (ADULT, CHILD AND MENTAL HEALTH ROUTES)

Each 20 credit module accounts for 200 hours of total student effort.  This typically comprises of 36 – 42 classroom contact hours, 14 blended learning activity hours and practice-based learning hours (equivalent to a minimum of 3 hours per week). Students should undertake private study for a minimum of 11 hours per module, per week.

The course starts with an induction which may be one or two days in length, to orientate students to the university and the course. Students then attend on a one-day-a-week part-time basis. Teaching sessions are delivered in the morning or afternoon according to the module timetable. There are no evening or weekend teaching sessions. Assessments normally take place in January for Semester 1 modules and May/June for Semester 2 modules.

The academic year at LSBU is organised into two semesters.  Each module is normally run over a semester comprising 15 weeks, where the final week is focused on completion of assessments. Attendance is also required for workshops to develop specific knowledge and skills. Dates are provided with sufficient notice to allow for planning.

The teaching team are all experienced Senior Lecturers. They have all worked as advanced practitioners and most continue to do so regularly.

Assessment

A range of strategies are used for assessment on this course:

• Formative assessments are used in each module to develop master’s level academic performance and review developing clinical competence.
• A variety of summative assessments are used at the end of each module including exams, a case study, OSCEs, written coursework, a portfolio, work-based practice based learning and submission of a series of practice based learning records (with verification of supervised clinical development, individual objective setting and review, feedback on progress and specific competencies). These assessments allow the student to demonstrate both the depth and breadth of knowledge and skills required to demonstrate achievement of the capabilities underpinning advanced clinical practice.

Practice based learning

Students on this course do not undertake placements in the traditional sense.  Rather learning takes place primarily within their workplace. The term “practice based learning” is used on this course to describe any learning that takes place within a clinical setting.

One of the key requirements for the course is that the practice experience provides learning opportunities that enable students to achieve the course learning outcomes (RCN, 2018). This is particularly important for preparation for a course of this nature; for any students, even those with many years of experience, some of the areas covered by the programme will be new, such as history-taking, physical examination skills, ordering and interpreting investigations, making differential diagnoses, pharmacology, and mental health assessment, etc.

This can be formally planned, organized to meet specific learning needs and opportunistic. It encompasses individual activities through to formal teaching with mixed professional groups within the workplace.Focused practice based learning activities are specified for this course in a Practice Based Learning Handbook. These activities complement classroom learning and are intended to develop the student’s clinical and professional scope of practice to an advanced level.

In order to ensure this happens, aspects of learning in practice are purposely structured and assessed. To achieve this we require that every student spends the equivalent of a minimum of 3 hours per week working in a “supernumerary capacity” in order to focus specifically on their clinical and professional development.  This requirement extends beyond the University semesters to include the Christmas, Easter and summer periods

Practice Facilitator

Practice Based Learning is supported through identification of a doctor/qualified advanced practitioner to act as the student’s “Practice Facilitator” to initially supervise and subsequently support their clinical development.

The Practice Facilitator must be either:

1. A qualified doctor (GP or registrar level in hospital setting), or;
2. An advanced nurse practitioner or an advanced clinical practitioner who has successfully completed a minimum of an RCN accredited BSc NP or a PgDip ACP or ANP award at least 2 years ago

For both, they need to have been working in the same organisation and setting as the student for a minimum of one year.

Other experienced senior clinicians can also support student development.  Details of these activities and the role of the Practice Facilitator are provided in the Practice Based Learning Handbook.They are also reviewed and discussed at a specific session for students and their Practice Facilitators within the induction, at the start of the course.

Evidence of practice based learning (36 hours of direct supervision and 180 hours of indirect supervised clinical practice), review of specific competencies and feedback on progress is used as one of the elements of assessment on specified modules.

For those students who take the Non Medical Prescribing module, this has its own arrangements for recording practice based learning, including a verified log of clinical hours to account for a minimum of 78 hours for nurses, midwives, and AHP’s and 90 hours for pharmacists.  A minimum of one third must be under direct supervision of their Practice Assessor of 26 or 30 hours respectively.

The LSBU criteria for the Practice Assessor are:

• Qualified independent prescriber for minimum of 3 years
• Prescribing regularly, minimum of once a week
• Has mentorship qualification or can demonstrate experience or training in teaching / supervision in clinical practice.