2020 degree target not 'meaningful' | nursing times

A requirement for all nurse leaders and specialists to have degrees by 2020 risks not being “meaningful”, senior nurses have said. It is being considered as one of the recommendations of the

Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery, whose draft recommendations Nursing Times exclusively revealed last week. This week some nurse leaders said the focus

should instead be on better ways of testing leadership skills, and developing clearer pathways for becoming a specialist – which could include regulation of advanced practice, another of the

commission’s recommendations. Queen’s Nursing Institute director Rosemary Cook told Nursing Times: “There is a lot more to both leadership and specialism than having a degree. “There are a

lot of people with a degree who are not necessarily great leaders. “As a standalone requirement it’s not very meaningful. It’s a bad indicator of what somebody is like. She said nursing

needed to answer the question: “What does a leader need?” Unite national officer for health Karen Reay said the commission’s draft recommendation was too prescriptive. “There are lots people

who have fantastic knowledge and skills and are natural leaders but are in their 50s and don’t want to go and do a degree,” she said. The commission’s wish for all nurse leaders and

specialists to have degrees by 2020 was underpinned by its call for greater investment in continuing professional development. Another of its draft recommendations said there should be a new

scheme to develop potential nurse leaders that would spot talent and provide mentorship and training. Jane Scullion, respiratory nurse consultant at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS

Trust, said there was a need for clearer definition of specialist nursing, but a degree requirement would not necessarily provide that. She said most specialists already had degrees but they

were not necessarily relevant to the work they were doing. Ms Scullion said: “It is a question of whether a degree necessarily gives you leadership or specialist skills.” “It would be great

to develop pathways along similar lines to medical education so we have a clear way of developing into a specialist post.” The commission’s recommendations may also challenge advanced and

specialist nurses who have been promoted to band 8 and above, but do not have evidence they continue to work at that level.