The first week of the course is the week of the 18th January 2022. You will be just focussing on getting started at University this week.
You may have some concerns about your placement in the current climate, this page hopes to reassure you that we will do all that we can to make sure your placement will meet your learning needs.
As the pandemic is approaching a second wave (this page was updated in October 2020), it is clear, that we need to prepare for the next year being very much interrupted by COVID-19 in terms of universal service delivery, the services we work with, where we work and how we work. There are some questions we may not yet be able to answer as there are some unknowns ahead. However, in this next year we do have some clarity based on how we have managed a SCPHN cohort in practice settings and successfully graduated a cohort of students in recent months of the pandemic. We also have more clarity about how valued the SCPHN service is and a high profile steer to keep community SCPHN's in their roles and maintain a much needed service to families (iHV, Directors of Nursing NHS England and Public Health England).
It is important to recognise that when the programme was interrupted last year, the student SCPHN's were a good way into their programme (September to March) before their placements were disrupted, had a range of face-to-face experiences with families and young people and were well on their way to 'signing off' their competencies. This therefore provides a challenge for you, starting a programme with reduced face-to-face contact in some areas for SCPHN practice, and disruption to partner services you may have liked to spend some time with; your assessors are preparing for this challenge and they will be working closely with you to make sure we are realistic, creative, and keep in regular contact with you all to ensure that we manage any problems that arise, in a timely manner.
This is of course an unusual year, and if the service you work is reduced and restricts your ability to achieve competence as expected, this is something we to take into account, be flexible, try to be creative, and if required consider extending your programme to ensure that you complete as a competent SCPHN. It may be that some of you complete the programme at a different end date to others, and this has been something that we have accommodated in the last year to ensure that all students completed safely.
We know that in the last year all SCPHN students remained in their Trust and were not redeployed into other roles. We know that your employers are committed to keeping you in your SCPHN role next year with increased political pressure to keep SCPHN workforces from being redeployed, based on the poor health and social outcomes for children and families in the last wave.
We now have the vast majority of SCPHN professionals back in their roles and it is hoped that large scale redeployment will not occur again in the next wave in these professions.
What we do know is that the pandemic has created some inspirational and innovative ways of meeting the needs families and young people, from mindfulness online sessions, outdoor walk and talk wellbeing contacts, virtual contacts, meetings and conferences. Students have become really involved in leading projects for centralised triaging for school nursing, and setting up appointment only clinics in health visiting for example.
We also know that your NHS Trusts are committed to ensuring that you are safe, and work within an environment that keeps you safe and well, provides equipment for safely working from home, and safely working in a placement setting where you have to be there in person.
Working from home has been advantageous for some in minimising the costs and time of travel, protecting yourself and your families in the pandemic, however for some this can impact on a feeling of isolation and it has been important to check in with colleagues to ensure that we continue to share concerns, talk over caseload challenges, and indeed feel part of a supportive team of colleagues. As a student you will spend most of your first semester working closely with a Supervisor and will not be expected to lead your own practice until you feel safe and comfortable to do so. You will have frequent access to your Academic Assessor (Jen), your Practice Assessor along with a Supervisor in line with the new SSSA standards (NMC, 2018).
The model of school nursing is very different across the NHS Trusts you will be placed in this year. Some of you will be very much school based and part of a school team with your Supervisor. Some of you will be in a central school nurse team with your Supervisor, in teams delivering packages of commissioned services to schools in your caseload. These differences will be clarified by your manager and Practice Assessor based on your NHS Trust, it is important that you have a good understanding of your role in the next year.
What will be consistent is that the physical space you would usually be based in will be subject a risk assessment and it may be that people are advised to work from home, if they are shielding themselves or family members, or office spaces may have a rota to allow all staff to come to a base, but the space will not allow the full capacity with social distancing. Your first semester will be largely an observational role, however this can be achieved in observing virtual contacts from a different base too (home). In schools the office spaces for school nurses tend to be small, therefore we need to be considerate of how to maintain social distancing and respect local and national policy. You will be provided with PPE in line with your local policy for infection control.
The public health nursing services that are delivered in schools are widely recognised to be essential, as the pandemic affects young people in so many ways, there is a highly valuable role for school nurses, even if schools were to close for local lockdowns in the future, the work of school nurses will continue to remain a key aspect of maintaining good physical and mental health for young people and families. You will be supported to adapt to the new challenges as we face them as the year progresses.
It is a requirement that you have a driving licence and car for this role, you will be expected to travel alone where possible where you might otherwise have car shared with your supervisor and assessor.
As we have indicated you will be 'placed' with a Supervisor and work in close contact in your first semester. You will be allocated to a team and this will have a geographical location, it is likely that your place in an 'office' will be prioritised in this first semester in your observational role, however this can be achieved in observing virtual contacts from a different base too (home).
Usually there would be an expectation that we visit families in their homes, and whilst the pandemic initially vastly depleted the SCPHN service from home contact for all families, we are now very much in a position to try to fulfil universal services for families face-to-face. Most NHS Trusts are honouring most universal 'contacts' whether this be by phone, virtually, face to face or by letter (modified ASQ). A clearer picture across the regions would need to be determined in your local area, and this may change as the year progresses. Again, what we do know is that the first wave adversely affected families and children in removing universal and universal plus contacts, and this is to be avoided again in future waves.
What will be consistent is that the physical space you would usually be based in will be subject a risk assessment and it may be that people are advised to work from home, if they are shielding themselves or family members, or office spaces may have a rota to allow all staff to come to a base, but the space will not allow the full capacity with social distancing. Therefore we need to be considerate of how to maintain social distancing and respect local and national policy. You will be provided with PPE in line with your local policy for infection control.
It is a requirement that you have a driving licence and car for this role, you will be expected to travel alone where possible where you might otherwise have car shared with your supervisor and assessor.
If you have further questions, please do contact your service lead/ manager for your student role, a Community Practice Assessor, a former student and/ or jennifer.kirman@brookes.ac.uk if you want to explore any issue further