The education and training needs of advanced clinical practitioners: an exploratory, qualitative study

Advanced clinical practitioners increasingly provide patient care in a variety of settings across the world. This paper reports a qualitative study exploring the training and education needs of these healthcare professionals in England. Four focus group discussions and one individual interview were conducted with a total sample of 17 people. Participants were adults enrolled on an Advanced Practice Masters programme at one Higher Education Institution or advanced clinical practitioners from across two large London National Health Service hospitals. Data collection took place March-April 2017. Following transcription, audio-recorded data were imported into Nvivo11 and subjected to a standard process of inductive thematic analysis. Three key themes were identified: Recognising advanced practice; Education for Advanced Practice; Programme delivery. Findings highlight the huge variation in titles, practice responsibilities and management structure, which make the development of a generic education programme challenging and the importance of flexibility key to success. At a time when public services are experiencing significant financial constraints, the need for improved collaborative practices, shared resources and a practice focus is considered vital for educating future advanced clinical practitioners worldwide