Welcome to new bloggers! And thinking about pre-registration nursing education

I have had a number of queries from people about this blog – how to sign up. All you have to do is click on the ‘sign in’ on the top right of the blog page. If you don’t have a Google account, you will be asked to sign up but you can use your work or home email – no need to create a new email! I hope that works but email me outside of the blog if anyone is still having problems.

For those of you who are not used to the world of blogging I am pleased to be engaged in this new venture with you! If you’re familiar with blogging, I’ll look forward to sharing discussion and debate with you. If you are interested in having a ‘guest’ blog – just let me know. The greater the debate around the issues that affect nursing education, the better from my perspective.

As we embark on a new academic session, it is always pleasing to see the new students (keen and enthusiastic, finding their way), and the students who are entering into a new academic year. In my institution, we are currently developing the pre-registration programme for the implementation of the new NMC standards. We have been engaging with students, clinical staff, service users, and academic staff with the aim of having early conversations so that we can take on board views, evidence, feedback in a meaningful way. This aspect of the development work links directly to the focus for my Seattle visit (mentioned in an earlier blog) in which I aimed to come to a stronger understanding of how approaches to partnership, collaborative working relationships can blur the boundaries between the groups of people who are working towards a common goal (in this case the development of a curriculum that is fit for purpose and which ‘produces’ graduates who can take on the evolving demands of working in the future healthcare environment). What I learnt in Seattle was this (amongst other things): we need to find ways to celebrate the good that we do, the progress that we make, the leadership that we see across organisations, and the ideas that we have. Partnership working is such a complex area – one which is dependent on so many variables – that making them work is sometimes a challenge. I am pleased to be working in an environment where we can have open conversations with the relevant people, and where we are all working towards a common vision – of the development of practitioners who make a positive impact on practice.