It comes like a new review of practical learning requirements across the UKcommissioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

“We are quite willing to reduce those practice hours, but we are quite committed to ensuring that it is a quality experience to achieve the results”

Sam Foster

Sam Foster, Executive Nurse Director of Professional Practice at NMC, shared some key findings from this review at the Nursing Times Workforce online conference yesterday.

The review, led by the Nuffield Trust, is expected to inform the regulator whether any changes need to be made to its current requirements for clinical placements, such as the number of hours students must complete.

Practical learning makes up 50% of nursing and midwifery programs.

Currently, nurses complete 2,300 hours of practical training, of which 600 can be covered through simulated practical training.

In recent years, some have called for reducing the minimum number of practice hours students must complete.

The NHS’s long-term workforce plan, published under the previous Conservative government, said it wanted Find out how nurses can join the register with fewer practice hours.

He argued that reducing practical learning hours from 2,300 to 1,800 during a nursing degree could reduce pressure on students while increasing placement capacity in NHS services.

Ms Foster told the conference that the Nuffield Trust report was expected to conclude that there was “limited published empirical evidence” to determine the optimal number of hours of practical learning that a student nurse should undertake.

Similarly, the study found limited evidence on the optimal number of births a student midwife should facilitate (currently 40).

Sam Foster

Ms Foster said: “There are a variety of opinions on what ‘optimal’ would be.

“However, the real consensus was, as we all know, that quality matters more than quantity.

“Results-oriented education is at the heart of the NMC. »

Nursing Times editor Steve Ford asked Ms Foster if practical learning hours could be reduced.

In response, Ms Foster said: “I think one of the things that’s really important to say is that the NMC is genuinely open to this.

“So there’s no fixed view into the back room.”

Ms Foster noted that other professions were “certainly not set at 2,300 hours”.

“That might give you an idea that we are quite willing to reduce those practice hours, but rather committed to ensuring that it is a quality experience to achieve the results,” she added .

Meanwhile, Ms Foster said the Practical Learning Review identified “confusion at times” among providers over how to interpret the program’s delivery requirements, including finding the right balance between “depth and the extent » of students’ knowledge.

Another key area covered by the review was the “opportunities and barriers” related to expanding placement opportunities for student nurses, Ms Foster said.

Additionally, the research identified “real variation” in the level of undergraduate supervision offered to students.

Equality, diversity and inclusion should be a major theme of the review, Ms Foster noted.

She added: “As you can imagine, there were some real themes that emerged from this initial Nuffield work around inequity, racism and discrimination in practical learning, (and) capacity colleagues to make themselves understood and pursue their reasonable adjustments.

“And of course, (he identified the) financial challenges and barriers that undergraduates face when undertaking education programs.”

In the NMC latest board documentspublished this week, the regulator confirmed its review around practical learning was “progressing well”.

It said it would “actively engage” with its steering and advisory groups in November and December 2024 “to achieve consensus on recommendations for the executive”.

Findings and recommendations on next steps will be shared in January 2025, the documents confirm.