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Nursing

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/24

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End date: 2009Subject: search.filters.subject.Continuing professional development

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    Improving access to learning in the workplace using technology in an accredited course
    (Elsevier Science B.V. Amsterdam, 2005-03) Munro, Kathleen; Peacock, Susi
    This article gives an account of a case study which seeks to explore the potential for using technology to deliver learning in the workplace: a syringe driver course for nurses. We provide a brief overview of workplace learning, continuing professional development and learning technology in the health sciences. The paper then draws upon a three-year project that involved the transition of a traditionally taught, institution-based face-to-face course to work-based learning using technology. Through the evaluation and discussion of the case study we address key issues that have emerged, such as, marketing of the product; in our case it was decided that the most cost-effective way to provide the course and recuperate some costs was to accredit the course by the Institution. Registered practitioners in the workplace assess learning and are linked to the quality assurance mechanisms of the Institution. We also consider some of the major barriers to implementation, highlighting critical areas for consideration for those undertaking a similar project. These include the lack of technical knowledge in the Group, which resulted in a steep learning curve for all members. This and numerous iterations of materials (including video and animations) lengthened the project considerably whilst technological advances meant other more sophisticated technological solutions that became available during the production process were incorporated. A cost benefit analysis would show that the product has been delivered across Scotland and production costs covered and that there have been unquantifiable gains, including improving the external profile of the academic institution and the NHS Trust, developing the technical skills of the Group and providing invaluable experience of working in a cross-disciplinary collaborative working environment.
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    Continuing professional development and the charity paradigm: Interrelated individual, collective and organisational issues about continuing professional development
    (Elsevier, 2008-11) Munro, Kathleen
    This paper aims to highlight some issues and tensions that currently challenge the profession, individual nurses and their employers when considering the need for continuing professional development. The Nursing and Midwifery Council states the professional requirements for continuing professional development. However the nature and type required seems to be determined by the individual on the one hand and the organisation on the other, rather than an integral part of professional activity within the context of work. This can lead to a mismatch between personal and organisational goals. Views emerged from participants in a previous case study that focused on learning through work, about support available to nurses for professional development. The perceptions of nurses and their managers about learning through work were explored, using semi structured interviews, picture mapping and structured interviews. The 'Charity Paradigm' is presented as an outcome of major issues within an organisation. It underpins negative perceptions of individuals about employer support of continuing professional development. It is suggested that there is a need for collaborative collective approaches to structured development in order to meet both individual and organisational needs. This is also advocated in order to achieve life long learning and transformational learning within an organisation. The tension between individual personal ambitions and employer demands can adversely affect the professional development of the practitioner and the organisation that employs them. The personal perspectives of nurses and managers about learning within their organisation are therefore important to acknowledge in terms of positive and negative influences. It is also necessary to recognise the contribution of the employer as well as the identifiable charitable contribution of individual practitioners and the input from external contributors to the organisation.