The Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC) Standards for Learning and Assessment in Practice (SLAiP; NMC 2008) set the basis for the current models of learning and assessment in nurse and midwife education. These standards are currently overly prescriptive and process focused and accordingly the industry that has developed around them has done so in a relatively rigid manner which potentially stifles flexibility and creativity within practice learning.
The practice learning environment for nurses and midwives is acknowledged as a one of the areas of learning that consistently carries high risk in relation to public protection (NMC 2015; NMC 2016) and the need for both theory to inform practice and practice to inform theory is critical. In the advent of the Francis inquiry into the failings at Mid-Staffordshire (Francis 2013) the need for ensuring public protection at every level including through practice learning is crystallised. There is therefore a clear need for the regulator to ensure that the future of practice learning is robust and safe.
An extensive study undertaken by IFF Research (2016) sought to review the effectiveness of the NMC's SLAiP at pre registration level and found a number of issues occurring within the practice leaning environment. These included issues relating to the availability of both placements and mentors and issues with some placements being in environments where the full range of skills cannot be achieved. The research also outlined a number of issues relating to the inconsistent quality of practice learning experienced by students.
A rapidly changing health and social care environment therefore requires standards that are flexible and resilient enough to both address the challenges placed on practice such as those highlighted through the IFF Research report whilst simultaneously ensuring robust public protection. The NMC are currently undergoing the development of new standards in practice learning and this paper accordingly explores the principles of a new model of practice learning that is fit for the rapidly changing nature of the practice learning environment.
