P49210

P49210 Advanced Research Design

Research proposal

Introduction:

This paper presents an outline research proposal for dissertation study at ‘M Level’; it is structured and presented within a research proposal framework based on Punch (2006), appendices have been included to provide additional supporting information.

Abstract:

This qualitative research study will explore the lived experiences of learning disability nurses engaging in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities, within one NHS trust in the South Central region of England. Specific consideration is given to the factors which influence their integration of eLearning within their CPD. Data collection will be achieved through individual unstructured interviews and focus groups; data analysis will be conducted using thematic analysis (Ryan & Bernard, 2003).

Title:

A qualitative study exploring the factors which influence the integration of eLearning in nursing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities.

Question: What factors influence the decisions of learning disability nurses to integrate eLearning into their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities?

Aims:

To identify and explore:

• Factors which influence the consideration of modes of CPD activities;

• Potential barriers and constraints to the inclusion of eLearning within CPD activities;

• Factors which discourage and inhibit the inclusion of eLearning within CPD activities;

• Factors which encourage and support the inclusion of eLearning within CPD activities.

Theoretical perspective:

The idea from the study originates from the personal experience of the author, following the completion of an internal audit into CPD activities focused on Medicines Management the author noted that few nurses reported engaging in CPD activities which involved digital media or eLearning. Health professionals are working in a technology driven workplace with expectations that nurses develop skills in ICT; (Connecting for Health, 2008).

ELearning has a significant role to play in the future direction of nurse CPD within the organisation, with constraints on funding for staff development activities (Rivers, 2007), together with the increased promotion of self directed learning within CPD activities and an increase in digitised resources being made available online via inter and intranet, investigation into this area of professional development within the organisation is essential. Given the demands for an IT literate workforce within the NHS the author considers eLearning to be a valuable medium for CPD activities and recognised a need for further exploration in this area of continuing practice development.

This study assumes that eLearning (definition, see appendix 1) poses a significant advantage in providing nurses with the opportunity to meet Continuing Professional Development (CPD) (definition, see appendix 1) requirements in a more flexible way than through the more ‘traditional contexts’ i.e. ‘campus based face-to-face delivery, alone.

Flexible learning and delivery were recognised by Sandars who stated that eLearning has enormous potential, he predicted that advances in technology would “allow rapid access to high-quality resources, both on- and offline, from work and home, and at a time and pace to suit the individual” (2003:3). Ease of access is still a key component for the success of eLearning for professional development. The ‘Martini’ catch phrase is still evident today with any time, anywhere, and any pace learning (JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) 2008). With this flexibility there is also the potential to bring together the traditional contexts with eLearning to provide a richer learning experience; commonly this is referred to as ‘Blended Learning’ (Sharpe et al, 2006). Flexibility is one of the key advantages of eLearning recognised by the National Workforce Group (NWG) & Department of Health (DH) (2006) who recognised the value of investment in workforce education delivered through e-learning to support the modernisation of the NHS and the ongoing development of its workforce.

The qualitative design of the study has been selected as it is highly suited to exploring the lived experiences of the participants to determine which factors influence them when planning their CPD activities. The study will ask participants to share their thoughts and experiences to discover any potential barriers or constraints they have encountered when planning within CPD activities; through discussion individually and in focus groups it will identify which factors discourage and inhibit the inclusion of eLearning within CPD activities and which encourage and support the inclusion of eLearning within CPD activities. Thematic analysis will establish themes from which actions cane be identified for service development.

Paradigm –

The paradigm of the study consists of the following; the ontological perspective is relativist, the author believes that there is no single answer to the challenge the outcome is dependent on context and is different among individuals. The epistemological perspective is subjectivist, it would be difficult to be objective in such a research project as the author has an established and visible presence in learning & teaching in particular in e-learning in their employing organisation, it is essential that this is taken into consideration as it may influence upon the research project and the methodological perspective is hermeneutic.

Current literature review:

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) require nurses to continually update themselves through CPD, commonly referred to as PREP (Post Registration Education and Practice) (NMC, 2006). This poses a particular challenge in today’s workplace where there are fewer funds available to meet the demands of the diverse range of staff development required, budgets are frequently set aside to provide little other than the ‘mandatory’ training and as a result nurses often perceive the need to self fund ‘non compulsory’ CPD activities (Rivers, 2007). Additionally nurses also face the challenge of finding time to update, being released from practice is often a challenge; these challenges were recognised by Bahn (2007) in her study into nurse orientation towards engaging in formal and informal learning within continuing education and lifelong learning. Regard access to eLearning in the workplace, Wright & Bingham present several barriers: “workforce reticence to the use of ICT for learning, combined with lack of basic ICT skills, the limitations of local IT infrastructures, and lack of staff time to undertake learning” (2008,4-5). They go on to state that the lack of skills and expertise to develop and deliver e-learning and blended learning is a further significant barrier within almost every organisation they surveyed.

The publication of the National Framework For Lifelong Learning (DH 2001) and later the development of the strategy Supporting Best Practice in e-Learning across the NHS (National Workforce Group, 2005) work together to shape the development of C&IT expertise within the NHS workforce; the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) delivered through local implementation by Strategic Health Authorities (SHA) (Connecting for Health, 2008) and results of the E-learning Scoping Exercise for NHS South Central region (Wright & Bingham, 2008) are expected to further support the delivery of NHS Improvement Plan and the Standards for Health through more effective training and development progress at a local level.

Growth in the number of IT based resources, to support work based learning & CPD, resources developed by the former NHS University (NHSU), abolished in 2005, whose aims were to create and improve opportunities for learning, create high quality learning environments, and lead research into future learning needs. This developed into NHS Institute for Learning, Skills and Innovation (DH 2005), and later NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. The Core Learning Units (CLU) developed under the NHSU were transferred to the Skills for Health Organisation and hosted within the NHS Core Learning Unit website (CLU, 2008).

There has been evident growth and development within the National Library for Health (NLH) (NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, 2008) with an increased provision of e-books, and online journals, together with increasing provision of staff development resources within organisational Intranet or virtual learning environments; including digitised learning materials, videos, CD-ROM and audio files; frequently delivered on-line via Internet synchronised with Learner Management Systems (LMS) for monitoring and recording staff development activities.

Research into eLearning has increased in recent years with a growing number of reports focusing on developments within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) namely HEFCE (2005), JISC (2007), Sharpe et al (2006), Waite & Bingham (2008) and developments focusing on implementing eLearning within the NHS examined by Farrell (2006), Gill (2007), National Workforce Group (NWG) (2005) and Wright & Bingham (2008); the findings and recommendations from these publications will be considered within the design and implementation of the research project.

Given the aforementioned demands for an IT literate workforce within the NHS (Connecting for Health, 2008) the author considers eLearning to be a valuable medium for CPD activities and recognised a need for further exploration in this area of continuing practice development within her employing organisation.

Methodology:

The research question requires the assumptions about nurses’ involvement in eLearning within CPD activities be explored. A study to provide such answers would require an exploration of the thoughts and experiences of nurses planning and engaging with CPD activities; therefore a qualitative approach will be adopted for this study. Qualitative research permits an exploration of the lived experience and is viewed through the eyes of the person under study (Bryman, 2004).

The study will employ an inductive, descriptive methodology comprising of aspects from both phenomenological and ethnographic approaches. According to Creswell (2007) these are most appropriate approaches to consider when studying experiences as lived by the study participants. To achieve this it is necessary that that the experiences of nurses engaging in CPD activities are collected, described and then analysed before conclusions are drawn. Therefore a mixed approach has been selected as it appears to be the most appropriate in answering the study question.

Methods:

Data will be collected and analysed through the following methods, unstructured in-depth interviews; thematic analysis; and focus groups.

During a ‘Nurses Forum’ event, the researcher will present an outline of the study identifying aims and objectives and timescale and demands on participants, participants will then be invited to participate in the study.

Attendees will be presented with a participant information sheet and participant consent form (Appendix 2); attendees will be asked to return completed consent form within one week. Separate invitation letters with enclosures will be sent to those who did not attend the Nurses Forum. These will be sent by post with return self addressed envelopes for use in the internal postal system. Although the focus of the study is on eLearning activities, invitation to participate is not being made electronically as this would immediately restrict the sample to participants who have a work email address and are users of technology at work.

Follow up invitations will be sent two weeks after issuing the initial invitation letter. If no response received then the participant will not be contacted again. Participants who complete and return the consent form will be invited to attend an individual interview.

Interviews will be unstructured in-depth interviews (Welman et al, 2005), where a small number of open ended questions will be asked to gather the account of the experience of the practitioner. Face to face interviews have been selected; Barker (1991) indicates that direct face to face interviews afford opportunity for the participant to expand on their response, and for the researcher to explore any areas of uncertainty or ambiguity. Direct face-to-face interviews are also seen as a more accessible mode of data collection providing the opportunity for participants to engage where more structured forms of data collection, such as self-report questionnaires, may prove inaccessible on grounds of language, comprehension or literacy and return response (Barker, 1991). This flexibility will prove beneficial interviewing such a diverse workforce, there are several nurses where English as their second language, where necessary translation services will be accessed. A suitable venue will be selected which is assessable to the participant and affords a sufficient level of privacy to ensure the participant can speak freely during the interview.

Interview notes will be transcribed into verbatim ‘accounts’, a copy will be sent to interview participant for ‘respondent validation’ (Bryman, 2004); this approach is being utilised to help to ensure strong correspondence between the researcher and the study participants.

Immediately following the interview participants will be invited to attend a focus group, these will be scheduled to occur after the initial analysis has taken place.

Transcriptions will then be re-read and themes identified; ‘theme identification techniques’ of Ryan & Bernard (2003) will be employed to identify themes; the emergent themes will be presented to a series of focus groups for further discussion until saturation is reached.

Interview notes from the focus groups will be transcribed and analysed. Final analysis of the literature will then commence following which a post analysis literature review will be undertaken before compiling the final report.

Sample:

The study participants are first level registered nurses, employed in an NHS Trust in England, UK.

The participants will be sampled from nurses employed in the Trust where the researcher is employed; there is an estimated 150 nurses across three counties to draw upon. The author aims to recruit between 5 and 25 individuals to participate in the study; this figure is suggested by Polkinghorne (1989) as a suitable figure for data collection via interviews.

Purposive sampling (Polit & Hungler, 1999: 284) will be utilised to attempt to find a more closely defined group for whom the research question will be significant. Unlike Polkinghorne; Ryan and Bernard (2003) advocate that sampling continues until theoretical saturation has been reached, when and how saturation is reached depends on several things: firstly the number and complexity of data, secondly investigator experience and fatigue, and thirdly the number of analysts reviewing the data. According to Guest et al (2006: 60) in health science research, saturation has become the gold standard by which purposive sample sizes are determined. It is therefore essential that a sufficient numbers of participants are recruited to provide the volume of date required to reach theoretical saturation and remain manageable within the time scale of the study.

Access to data/sample:

Participants will be sampled from nurses employed in the Trust. Consent will be gained through an initial briefing together with issuing a participant information sheet and consent form (Appendix 2).

Stakeholders include the NHS Trust Research & Development Coordinator, Director of Nursing, and nurses employed within the Trust. Initially to gain endorsement, the research proposal will be presented and discussed with the Director of Nursing, and then presented to the local Learning & Development group for initial approval prior to seeking ethical approval. School of Health and Social Care Research Ethics Committee and Local Research Ethics Committee (LREC) – will both be approached according to local procedure.

Other interested parties / collaborators would include the trust learning & development team and faculty staff at Oxford Brookes University (OBU).

Data collection:

Data will be collected from the nurse participants through unstructured in-depth individual interviews and focus groups.

Unstructured in--depth individual interviews will gather data about the participants experience in planning their own CPD activity and their experience of/ or non experience of eLearning, and description of their skill and confidence in using IT at work. While the focus groups will further refine the themes to ensure all have been drawn together.

Data analysis:

Data will be analysed using a thematic approach, theme identification will be achieved utilising the techniques of Ryan & Bernard (2003). Several techniques for discovering themes within text are presented by Ryan & Bernard (no date), who base these techniques on: “an analysis of words (word repetitions, key-indigenous terms, and key-words-in contexts); a careful reading of larger blocks of texts (compare and contrast, social science queries, and searching for missing information); an intentional analysis of linguistic features (metaphors, transitions, connectors); and the physical manipulation of texts (unmarked texts, pawing, and cut and sort procedures)”.

Ethical issues:

The study will involve NHS employees therefore in addition to School Ethics Committee approval; NHS Ethics Committee approval must also be sought. To guide the presentation of ethical considerations the Research Ethics Framework (REF) (ESCR 2006) REF document has been followed. The following headings are taken from this framework:

3.2.2 Research staff and subjects must be informed fully about the purpose, methods and intended possible uses of the research, what their participation in the research entails and what risks, if any, are involved.

Staff in the project will be informed about the purpose of the study, what data would be gathered, how it would be held, how participants would be identified, how this identifying data would be held, who would have access to data and identifying details (Name location etc), participants will also be informed who would get copies of the report and where the data would go after the project had ended.

3.2.3 The confidentiality of information supplied by research subjects and the anonymity of respondents must be respected

Data will be coded so participants could not be identified by research team members, the codes will only be known to the researcher.

3.2.4 Research participants must participate in a voluntary way, free from any coercion

Coercion will be avoided, study participants will not receive any incentive or reward from participating in the study. Participants will be informed of their right to refuse to participate or withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason.

3.2.5 Harm to research participants must be avoided

None of the potential participants report to the researcher; however the researcher does provide clinical supervision to three of the potential participants and reports to one of the potential participants. Therefore ‘undue influence’ is a minor concern. Participants will be informed that the data is not communicated to any third parties and that data collected is coded to prevent individual identification, and that data is not used for any other purpose other than for analysis within the study (e.g. not linked to appraisal, supervision or other staff development mechanisms).

3.2.6 The independence and impartiality of researchers must be clear, and any conflicts of interest or partiality must be explicit

The researcher will declare their personal interest in the subject under study, and work to ensure that bracketing is achieve, this is where the experiences of the researcher are set aside, as much as possible, to enable them to take a fresh perspective on the phenomenon under investigation (Husserl, 1977).

There is also specific interest in the study by senior members of ‘the Trust’ as they are keen to explore e-learning and wider implementation. Funding sources will be acknowledged, and any potential conflicts will be identified.

Only learning disability nurses will be included in the study. It is likely that those who are more experienced using IT are more likely to participate in a study of this topic; this will be acknowledged in the final report. Ownership and publishing of the report would be through the Trust and OBU.

Approval would need to include Director of Nursing & Performance as head of department and gatekeeper for access to the participant group, and review by Department/Faculty REC & NHS LREC and approval by the School of Health & Social Care Research Ethics Committee SH&SC REC.

Rigour:

Guba and Lincoln (1981) present four criteria for evaluating qualitative findings and enhancing trustworthiness namely credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability.

Credibility or confidence in the data will be gained through the researcher’s prolonged engagement and persistent observation (Polit & Hungler 1999) and member checking (Guba & Lincoln, 1981). According to Guba & Lincoln (1981) member checking is particularly important for establishing the credibility of Qualitative data this will be achieved through each student being given their transcribed interview and a report of the analysis to ensure that their meanings have been captured.

Transferability, the purpose of the study is to inform local practice development so the researcher has not set out to generalize the findings of the study into different contexts. Through attention to detail within the presentation of the study and its findings, transferability will be increasingly possible; and through the application of ‘thick description’ (Geertz, 1973) those reading the study will be better positioned to make judgements about possible transferability of its findings.

Dependability, is considered as a parallel to reliability in qualitative research, within this project dependability will be enhanced through provision of a reflective discussion throughout the research process together with documented decision trail identifying how decisions were reached at each stage of the study.

Throughout the research project the researcher will demonstrate their ability to ‘act in good faith’, ensuring that their personal values are declared at the outset. Subsequently personal values will not be permitted to overtly influence the conduct or findings derived from the project thus ensuring confirmability (Guba & Lincoln, 1981).

Limitations:

Limitations primarily arise in the sample method, purposive sampling introduces bias however it is necessary to focus the study on the desired target group. The sample will only include those who responded to the invitation to participate and returned completed consent forms.

Further limitations arise in the bias declared by the researcher, who has a particular professional interest in eLearning and its application to nurse CPD and possible ‘Observer Effect’ this is when the observer’s study of the behaviour changes the nature of the behaviour, similarly this change can occur during interview. Robson (2002) indicates that habituation can reduce this effect, identifying how a person becomes increasingly familiar with the process of observation and therefore less constrained.

Timeframe:

The prospective timetable commenced at the beginning of April 2008 with the development of this project outline and continues until the submission date at the end of the Dissertation module, details are contained with the table of tasks and GANTT chart (see Appendix 4). The GANTT chart, is according to Crofts (2002) an ideal way of presenting a project timetable, as it graphically presents the time relationship between the steps of a project.

Dissemination:

Findings will be disseminated to participants and Trust stakeholders through the Nurses Forum in the form of an oral presentation and paper. The paper will then be located in the Trust Intranet as a reference resource. Findings will influence the review of the learning and development strategy and the procurement of eLearning and CPD initiatives within the Trust. A journal paper/ short report will be presented for publication in a specialist clinical journal and an educational journal.

Conclusion:

The research proposal has presented a comprehensive outline of the proposed study, identifying the benefits for the study, its design and methodology. Supporting evidence from theoretical perspectives and practice has been integrated throughout the paper.

Consideration has been given to the potential participants and the design selected is considered the most appropriate for gathering the lived experiences from such a diverse population. Ethical considerations are explicit and clearly protect the participants when engaging in the study. Potential limitations to the study have been considered and are clearly identified and methods of dissemination have been identified.

Additional appendices have been provided which outline the timescale of the study and provide an example of participant information sheet and consent form.

References:

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Barker PJ (1991) Interview. In: Cormack DFS (Ed). The Research Process in Nursing (2nd edition). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 207-214.

Bryman A (2004) Social research methods (2nd edition). Oxford : Oxford University Press.

CLU (2008) NHS Core Learning Unit. Available at: http://www.corelearningunit.com/ (accessed 11/05/08)

Connecting for Health (2008) Programmes for IT. Available at: http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/itprogrammes (accessed 01/06/08)

Creswell JW (2007) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc.

Crofts L (2002) Getting Started. In: Tarling M & Crofts L (Eds) The essential researcher's handbook: for nurses and health care professionals (2nd edition). Edinburgh: Baillière Tindall, 1--18.

DH (2001) Working together, learning together: a framework for lifelong learning for the NHS. Available at:http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4009558?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=13086&Rendition=Web (accessed 01/06/08)

DH (2005) The NHS Institute for Learning, Skills and Innovation: The Way Forward. Available at:http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4107507 (accessed 01/05/08)

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (2006) Research Ethics Framework (REF). Available at:http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/ESRC_Re_Ethics_Frame_tcm6-11291.pdf (accessed 13/02/08)

Farrell M (2006) Learning differently: e learning in nurse education. Nursing Management. 13(6), 14-17

Geertz C (1973) The interpretation of cultures: selected essays. New York: Basic Books.

Gill A (2007) E-learning and professional development – never too old to learn. British Journal of Nursing. 16(17), 1084-1088.

Guba EG & Lincoln YS (1981) Effective evaluation: Improving the usefulness of evaluation results through responsive and naturalistic approaches. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Guest G, Bunce A & Johnson L (2006) How Many Interviews Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods. 18 (1), 59-82.

HEFCE (2005) Strategy for e-learning. Available at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_12/05_12.pdf (accessed 01/06/08).

Husserl E (1977) Cartesian meditations: an introduction to phenomenology. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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JISC (2008) Effective Use of Virtual Learning Environments. Available at: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/InfoKits/effective-use-of-VLEs (accessed 01/05/08).

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National Workforce Group & Department of Health (2006) Modernising healthcare training: e-learning in healthcare services. Available at:http://www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=42&Itemid=82 (accessed 01/06/08).

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Appendix 1: Definitions

Continuing professional development (CPD)

A First Class Service (DH 1999: 5) defines CPD “as a process of lifelong learning for all individuals and teams which meets the needs of patients and delivers the health outcomes and healthcare priorities of the NHS and which enables professionals to expand and fulfil their potential”;

“CPD should be focussed on the needs of patients and should help individuals and teams deliver the health outcomes and healthcare priorities of the NHS, as set out in national service frameworks and local health improvement programmes. CPD should be a partnership between the individual and the organisation; its focus should be the delivery of high quality NHS services as well as meeting individual career aspirations and learning needs. All opportunities should be taken for patients and patients groups to have an input” (DH 1999: 6).

eLearning

JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) (no date) indicate that e-Learning can be defined as “learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology'. It can cover a spectrum of activities from the use of technology to support learning as part of a ‘blended’ approach (a combination of traditional and e-learning approaches), to learning that is delivered entirely online”.

References:

Department of Health (1999) Continuing Professional Development Quality in the new NHS. Available at:http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Healthservicecirculars/DH_4004315?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=27906&Rendition=Web (accessed 01/06/08)

JISC (no date) e-Learning. Available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/elearning.aspx (accessed 01/06/08)

Appendix 2: Participant information

PARTICIPATION INFORMATION SHEET

A qualitative study exploring the factors which influence the integration of eLearning in nursing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities.

You are being invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide to participate it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully.

Who is conducting the research?

The researcher is: Jill Pawlyn (Tel: xxxxxxxx, jill.pawlyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.nhs.uk)

What is the purpose of the study?

The purpose of the study is to explore the factors which influence the integration of eLearning in nursing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities.

I am interested in learning about your experiences in using eLearning in your Continuing Professional development (CPD) activities. I would like to you to share your thoughts and experiences with me when planning CPD activities which involve any eLearning activities.

I would like you to identify any factors which have discouraged or inhibited you from including eLearning within your CPD activities and any which have encouraged and supported the inclusion of eLearning within CPD activities.

The primary aim of the research is investigate the factors which have influenced you to choose whether, or not, to integrate eLearning into your nurse CPD activities.

As you might imagine, the effectiveness of eLearning within CPD activities is an area of interest to members of Trust Learning and Development team, and senior managers in the Trust. E-learning is an area which is still emerging in the NHS and which is likely to be of increasing importance over the coming years, so it is useful to the Trust as a whole to be able to share and learn from each other’s experiences of eLearning. By participating in this study you will help us to understand how better to design and support eLearning within the Trust.

The study will take place between September 2008 and August 2009.

Why have I been invited to participate?

You have been chosen to participate because you are a learning disability nurse working for the xxxx NHS Trust. All learning disability nurses working for the Trust are being invited to participate in this study.

Do I have to take part?

It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you do decide to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form. Participation is not linked to appraisal, supervision or other staff development mechanisms. If you decide to take part you are still free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason.

What will happen to me if I take part?

There are two stages of data collection for this study:

The first stage - individual interviews;

You will be invited to attend an individual interview which will be audio/video recorded.

During the interview you will be asked about your Continuing Professional Development activities and your experiences using eLearning within your CPD.

Completion of the interview will take 40-45 minutes.

After the interview has concluded and the interview transcript has been prepared you will be sent a personal copy for accuracy checking and approval. You will then be invited to attend the focus group.

The second stage - Focus Group;

You will be invited to attend a focus group (6-12 participants) which will be audio/video recorded.

During the focus group you will be asked questions developed from the transcripts from the individual interviews.

Completion of the interview will take 40-45 minutes.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

There is a requirement for participants to commit time to participate in the data collection and checking the interview transcripts, across the duration of the study this should not exceed 2 hours in total. There are no other obvious disadvantages or risks from taking part.

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

Participation will provide an opportunity for personal reflection through which you may gain insights into your own learning preferences and identify areas for future CPD actions.

By participating in this study you will help us to understand how better to design and support eLearning within the Trust.

Will what I say in this study be kept confidential?

I intend to protect your anonymity and the confidentiality of your responses to the fullest possible extent, within the limits of the law. This includes keeping identities of participants confidential from other members of staff in the Trust in so far as possible. To do this, I will anonymise the data before it is analysed.

What this means is that in the case of your name and contact details will be kept in a separate, password-protected computer file from any data that you supply during interview and audio/video recording. This will only be able to be linked to your responses by the researcher.

In the final report, you will be referred to by a pseudonym. I will remove any references to personal information that might allow someone to guess your identity. The data will be kept securely in the Trust, for five years from the date of publication, before being destroyed.

What should I do if I want to take part?

To join the study please complete and sign the attached consent form, return it to me via internal post.

Jill Pawlyn, Senior Lecturer xxxxxxxxxxxxx.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

Results of the study will be presented within my dissertation for my Masters Degree in eLearning in Professional Education.

It is likely that I will seek to present and publish findings from such analysis at conferences or in other academic arenas, including journals. I will supply copies of any such publications on request to any participants in the study. I will publish an executive summary (or equivalent) of our findings to all participants via the Trust Intranet [insert link]

Who is organising and funding the research?

This is a xxxxxxx NHS Trust staff research project & Oxford Brookes University student research project.

It is being supported by the NHS Education South Central Education Bursary Scheme and Oxford Brookes University staff development budget.

It is being conducted in accordance with the xxxxxx NHS Trust Research Ethics Code of Practice (link to website) Oxford Brookes University Research Ethics Code of Practice (link to website).

Who has reviewed the study?

The research has been approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee,xxxxxx NHS Trust and University Research Ethics Committee, Oxford Brookes University.

Contact for Further Information.

If you require further information please contact my research supervisor:

If you have any concerns about the way in which the study has been conducted, you should contact the Chair of the Local Research Ethics Committee on [insert email]

Thank you for taking time to read the information sheet.

Jill Pawlyn.

Date: 06/06/08.

Appendix 3: Interview

Potential interview questions:

Do you maintain a professional portfolio? Is this electronic (on line or on floppy or CD-ROM)?

How often do you update your professional portfolio?

How confident are you using technology in the workplace (email, intranet, internet, word processing)? If so, can you tell me how confident you feel with what you use?

Do you have a Personal Development Plan? If so, can you tell me is this hand written or type written?

How often do you undertake CPD activities?

What are the focus areas in your CPD in the last 12 month? Please describe.

What influences your decision on areas to focus your CPD? Please describe.

What information or advice have you sought to help you to decide? Please describe.

Do you use any sort of e-learning during your CPD activities? If so, can you tell me what you use?

Was there any preparation to use e-learning at work? Please describe.

Could you tell me about any difficulties you have in using e-learning? Please describe.

Are there any particular advantages for you in using e-learning? Please describe.

Are there any specific e-learning courses, resources or sites you would particularly recommend to others? If so, what are they?

Do you have any ideas about how e-learning might be developed?

Is there an e-learning policy / strategy in place?

Are you aware of the Trust Learning & development policy? Do you use the protected learning time?

Have you used any of the online mandatory training courses available to NHS staff (i.e. Fire Safety Awareness, Health and Safety Awareness, Manual Handling, Infection Control, Equality and Diversity, and Disability Awareness)? If so, can you tell me what you used?

What influenced your decision to use the eLearning course?

Was there any preparation to use the e-learning course? Please describe.

Could you tell me about any difficulties you have in using the e-learning course? Please describe.

Are there any particular advantages for you in using the e-learning course? Please describe.

Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your experience using eLearning?

Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your CPD activities?

Appendix 5: Useful Websites

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) this website outlines IPA and its application to qualitative research - http://www.psyc.bbk.ac.uk/ipa/

The NHS Core Learning Unit (NHS CLU) has delivered core learning programmes since October 2005 following the demise of the NHS University (NHSU). The Unit is a hosted organisation within the National Health Service. Programmes are funded by the Strategic Health Authorities in England and are, as such, available free of additional charges, to NHS staff. - http://www.corelearningunit.com/

The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement supports the NHS to transform healthcare for patients and the public by rapidly developing and spreading new ways of working, new technology and world-class leadership - http://www.institute.nhs.uk/

The NHS and Social Care E-learning Resources Database - contains details of e-learning programs that have been developed and are available for use within the health and care sector - http://www.nhselearningdatabase.org.uk/.

Skills for Health was established in April 2002 with support from the DH, the independent and voluntary health sectors and staff organisations to become the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for health across the UK. Skills for Health takes a UK-wide lead for the development and use of integrated competency frameworks across healthcare - http://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/

© J Pawlyn August 2009