NS0628 - Leading and Improving Nursing Practice

During this module you will learn through lectures, seminars, tutor guided independent learning and practical workshop sessions. In addition part of your learning will be situated within ‘communities of practice’ (peer action learning sets) where experiential, collaborative and individualised strategies will enable you to develop your understanding and ability to lead a service improvement in nursing practice. In the practical workshops you will have an opportunity practise your leadership and management skills and think about strategies for leading care quality improvement. You will work independently and in groups on structured activities drawing on electronic resources, to enable you to fully engage with and participate in subsequent face to face learning at MCAST or online in the virtual classroom.

You will be supported through face to face dialogue in taught sessions. In additional tutorial support for your summative assignment will be available. Extensive support is also accessible on-line through the use of the e-learning portal social networking and collaborative tools. A central feature of the academic support available to you is the service provided by MCAST main campus library and Northumbria University library service which cater for all your learning needs, have extensive access to electronic text and tutorials that will directly support the development of academic skills aimed at improving your critical ad analytical thinking.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

By the end of this module you will be able to:
Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Critically analyse and select a service improvement strategy appropriate for application to a service improvement project relevant to nursing practice.
2. Critically appraise how partnership working and collaboration with service users of all ages, carers, other professionals and agencies, contributes to sustainable service improvement in nursing practice
3. Critically analyse risk assessment processes and the collaborative management of patient safety in professional practice.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
4. Use relevant theory, tools and processes to critically reflect on potential areas for evidence based service improvement in practice, implement your ideas and evaluate the outcome.

Personal Values Attributes:
5. Critically appraise the personal and professional attributes and skills that you require to lead and implement service improvement and manage interprofessional teams in nursing practice

Formative Assessment
Formative assessment will take place within your action learning set. You will present your service improvement project to your action learning set peers who will provide structured feedback and feedforward including suggestions for improvement (MLO 1-5).

Summative Assessment
You will produce a 3000 word assignment critically reflecting on your development of an evidence based service improvement project in practice, with a specific focus on your leadership and management approach in its development and implementation. (MLO 1-5).

Structured written feedback and feedforward for future development will be provided electronically with your marked submission.

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This module will help you to develop and consolidate skills, attitudes and behaviours that you have developed over the first two years of the programme. You will have the opportunity to become immersed in the culture of service improvement. You will need to consider the importance of sustained improvement in patient care, which seeks to improve quality; enhance patient safety and promote person-centred care with people of all ages and across a range of needs. An important characteristics of a modern health service is it recognition of the need for service improvement and a desire to create an empowered and transparent organisational culture. You will develop knowledge and understanding illustrating the benefit of improvement methodologies which can deliver sustained and measurable changes in practice. Through interactive workshops and technology enhanced learning, you will also learn about the leadership and management skills required for managing interprofessional teamwork in the delivery of safe and effective high-quality patient care in diverse care settings including primary care. Formative learning and assessment include the development and implementation of a service improvement project with the summative assessment being a written critical reflection on your experience. These skills are essential for employability in a contemporary healthcare delivery context.