General Practice Nurse Academic
The GPN Academic/Enhanced Programme aims to give you the knowledge and clinical skills in all the areas that are unique to General Practice Nursing. The training enables nurses to practice with autonomously with confidence in general practice. These include:
- Vaccinating babies, children, and adults
- Providing holistic care
- Prevention-screening for cancer
- Sexual health screening and taking cervical smears
- Running a travel health vaccination service
- Providing specific support and care to people with Asthma, COPD, Diabetes, Heart Disease, and other long-term conditions
- Providing Health promotion e.g. supporting people to stop smoking, lifestyle changes
- Providing holistic assessment and health care to patients with multiple problems across the lifespan.
All GPNs will be supported in completing the standards of student supervision and assessment (SSSA) to gain teaching skills that will equip them to assess and supervise others.
Some Feedback from previous GPNAs
FAQs
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If your practice or PCN has a GPN vacancy, nurses coming up to retirement, or is looking to futureproof their nursing workforce, the GPNA programme is a great way to recruit and train a nurse to work in general practice.
Legacy Nurses
The Legacy Nurse role aims to provide essential advice and guidance to the GPN. They will draw upon their experience in general practice, utilising all forms of knowledge and professional expertise. They will offer ‘real time’ mentoring, through coaching and peer support for newly qualified and new-to-general practice GPN learners. The SEL Legacy Nurse is a key role in working collaboratively with the training hub to support the development of the GPN role.
They will:
- support practice nurses to adapt to challenging and rapidly changing situations.
- offer support with the relevant evidence-based information.
- Provide one to one support and supervision of Nurses (GPNs) who are new to Primary Care.
- Assist with learning on topics such as long-term conditions, ill health prevention and screening.
- Observe trainee GPNs delivering patient care, reinforcing quality standards.
- Utilise the HEE General Practice Nursing Career Framework to enable pre and post registered nurses reach their full career potential.
How often do legacy nurses support GPNAs?
Legacy nurses support GPNAs in practice regularly and can step up supervision depending on individual needs. As soon as the GPNAs start their clinics, initially with immunisation and smear tests, a legacy nurse is allocated. Generally, the legacy nurse will visit weekly or every other week and report on the ongoing support document (OSD) to record and track the GPNA progress and development.
Do legacy nurses assess GPNAs’ practice competencies?
No. The legacy nurse will offer direct supervision to the GPNA and report on competency development via the OSD. Additionally, the legacy nurse liaises and provides feedback to the practice assessor (PA), who will then assess and sign off the GPNA competencies.
Are legacy nurses coordinating with the GPNA employing practice?
The legacy nurse regularly updates the OSD and can document aspects of the learning environment related to the GPNA progress and development (ie. Supervision time). The SELWDH will liaise with employer practices on matters concerning the progression and development of the GPNAs undertaking the academic programme. Employment and practice-related matters are beyond the remit of the legacy nurse role and addressed by the practice management (ie. Dress code).
How long are the legacy nurse sessions/shifts?
The legacy nurse session is ½ day (3.5h) or a whole day (7.5h). They supervise the GPNA clinic for 3 hours or 6.5 hours (excl. breaks and commuting time). They have 30 minutes (1/2 day) or 60 minutes (a whole day) to report and update the OSD.
GPNA+
What is the GPNA+?
The GPNA+ is the training and development framework developed by SELWDH to future-proof general practice nursing in SEL. The nurses undertaking the GPN academic programme supervise and assess pre-registration GP route nursing students throughout clinical placement in practice.
Can GPNAs assess and supervise students whilst undertaking their GPN training?
Yes. The Nursing and Midwifery Council approved 'Standards of Student Supervision and Assessment' (SSSA) course is undertaken by GPNAs shortly after commencing the GPN Academic Programme. The SSSA course equips nurses to supervise and assess students in practice. The GPNAs are the practice assessors (PA) of GP route students in their 1st placement in the 1st year of the course and thereafter.
What is a GP route student nurse?
The GP route student nurses are undertaking the general practice pathway. The clinical placements of GP route students are mainly in general practice and generally within the same practice or PCN. The GP route students have one secondary care placement in their 1st year of the course and again in their 2nd year of the course. These placements are usually in a hospital.
How can GPNAs teach while they are learning by undertaking their training?
The GPNA will have completed the fundamentals of GPN (immunisations, cervical cytology, LTCs) at the time they supervise and assess a GP route student. Additionally, they have undertaken the SSSA course and are certified assessors. All students have one PA and can have many practice supervisors. Therefore, the GPNA PA is the GP route practice supervisor. The 1st clinical placement for a 1st year student is about familiarising themselves with the practice and the clinical environment, enhancing communications skills, and learn about healthcare service provision in general practice. The GPNA is a qualified nurse equipped to teach a GP route student the basics of practice nursing, including childhood and adult immunisations, cervical cytology, healthcare prevention screening and general health advice.
Who is responsible for supervising and assessing the GPNA?
The practice nurse employed in the practice/PCN of the GPNA is the practice assessor (PA). All GPNAs are allocated a legacy nurse who will visit them regularly and provide direct supervision. The legacy nurse reports on the GPNA development via the ongoing supervision document (OSD), which can be shared with the PA. Only the PA signs-off competencies for the GPNA.
Does the practice receive funding for the nurses’ supervision time?
Yes. The practice receives funding for the GPNA supervision time and for the GP route student nurse supervision time. The GPNA supervision fee payable to the practice is 3K, and the student nurse tariff is £122.54 per week, which is supplemented by the SELWDH incentive scheme.