How Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice implemented national standards and guidelines to develop a Preceptorship programme that was tailored to the needs of the hospice and staff.
Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice wanted to implement a structured preceptorship programmme to support newly qualified nurses transitioning onto the Nursing and Midwifery Council register and more experienced nurses who were new to palliative care.
The hospice followed the National Preceptorship Framework for Nursing to ensure the programme met national benchmarks. This guidance provided a foundation for the hospice to build a programme that was tailored to meeting the specific needs of the hospice and its staff.
Outcomes
The preceptorship programme is led by Naomi Isenman, Preceptorship Lead at Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. The programme is structured over the course of a year, including:
palliative and end of life care
communication
clinical risk management
quality improvement
wellbeing
freedom to speak up and raising concerns
reflective practice
evidence based practice
The model has proved successful for nurses transitioning to the hospice from diverse clinical backgrounds. It provides them with structured support and guidance during their initial year, helping them develop their knowledge and skills around palliative and end-of-life care, while acknowledging their existing skills.
In the past, the hospice has been hesitant to recruit newly qualified nurses due to the specialised nature of the field. However, the implementation of the preceptorship programme has shifted this perspective and led to the recruitment of a newly qualified nurse.
Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice already had a supportive culture that focussed on staff recruitment and retention. There were well-established education programmes that provided some of the key resources for preceptees. Events such as “Multi-professional Clinical Education Tuesdays”, where speakers present on a different topic each week, were easy to add to the programme.
The hospice has designed a portfolio to provide structured guidance throughout the programme, enabling the preceptees to document their progress and achievements.
Assigning the time for the preceptees to complete training and development activities can be challenging. While preceptees have dedicated protected time for the programme, patient care is the priority.
Tips and advice
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You don’t need to reinvent the wheel! Use national templates and adapt them to your own context.
Really sell the programme to colleagues. Explain what it is and how it works (this might involve challenging some misconceptions).
Embed the programme in your hospice’s policies.
Future development
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The hospice is looking into developing more peer support and restorative supervision opportunities for preceptees. They are also considering using confidence scores to help preceptees measure their development across the programme.
NHS England is developing a preceptorship programme for Allied Healthcare Professionals (AHPs) and Phyllis Tuckwell is looking forward to implementing this in the future.
If you work in palliative and end of life care, you can find support, development opportunities, resources, and guidance and access our networks and communities.
