Nursing education

The Nurse Education team works to ensure that all practice learning meets the expectations set out in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) educational standards and provides opportunities for learners to achieve their programme outcomes.

Our expert team of practice educators are always available to visit our learners out in clinical practice to empower them to develop their skills and maximise the learning opportunities available. We also hold regular student support sessions jointly with our education providers to ensure learners always have access to the right support and guidance.

Feedback from one of our learners:

I would say the practice educators have been very supportive and are always available. I was able to reach out and they get in contact quickly. When I sent emails, I got a fast response back. It is good to have an allocated person that gets to you know personally, giving person-centred support and tailored feedback.

The Nurse Education team provides training and ongoing support for practice supervisors and practice assessors at our Trust, and works with clinical teams to provide high quality learning environments which empower and enable all students and learners in the nursing workforce to grow and succeed. 

We are committed to supporting newly qualified nurses and nursing associates to make the transition from being a student to becoming an Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registrant. We provide a preceptorship programme which follows the Health Education England Capital Nurse framework, and which has been awarded the Capital Nurse kite mark.

Each newly qualified registrant is allocated a preceptor (supervisor) and is given protected time to attend workshops, forums and supportive group sessions which are facilitated by expert nurses and practitioners who are specialists in their field.

The programme enables new registrants to embed the knowledge and skills that they have gained in their programmes, and to begin to develop their interests, career ambitions, and research skills alongside their clinical practice. The support from the preceptor and the wider clinical team is invaluable to the development of new registrants. A specialist programme is provided for nurses joining CAMHS services which includes additional content specific to working with children and young people.

Feedback from a preceptee about the programme:

It gives myself and my peers a space to talk about situations we find complex in the workplace and to come up with different solutions. I always come away feeling enriched with more knowledge which gives me more confidence in my nursing practice.

We work in partnership with King’s College London, London Southbank University, University of Greenwich, University of East London and Kingston and St George’s University of London to support nursing and nursing associate students to learn in a variety of placements across our hospital sites and community settings. We currently host places for over 360 nursing students and apprentices in partnership with these education providers.

We provide all of our learners with a comprehensive Trust and local induction, which includes mandatory training and an introduction to our Trust's strategy, delivered in partnership with service users and carers.

Learners are invited to attend forums where they can explore a topic relating to practice with an expert in the area. There are also listening sessions where students and learners meet with members of the nursing executive including our Chief Nurse to share their experiences. We can use their feedback to continue developing learning experiences and service provision.

Additional learning opportunities include Schwartz Rounds, in-house training sessions, and engaging with initiatives across the Trust. This may include physical healthcare, involvement in clinical research, or joining the Trust’s Nursing Executive Council as a student representative. 

We are able to provide a small number of elective placements each year in addition to those which we are contracted to provide. Any learners interested in this should contact the Nurse Education team at least six months in advance of the intended placement. They should provide information about the type of placement requested, the dates for the elective placements and learning objectives.

The Nurse Education team hosts a number of nurse forums to support colleagues in a range of nursing roles. These include a forum for the Trust’s professional nurse advocates and nurse associates.

In line with our Trust’s strategy "Aiming High; Changing Lives", all healthcare support workers in the Trust are supported to complete the Care Certificate to enhance their competency and confidence.

The Care Certificate is delivered by the Nurse Education team using a blended learning approach.

The Nurse Education team supports the Trust’s commitment to being an apprenticeship provider through the co-ordination and support of pre-registrant nurse and nurse associate apprentices.

The Nurse Education Team offers an on-boarding programme for nurses recruited from overseas to introduce them to the Trust and provide educational support to help them achieve registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). 

If you have previously been a registered nurse and wish to return to the profession, we can support you to complete a Return to Practice (RtP) programme. This is a period of updating your skills and knowledge which will allow you to re-register with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC). We  work in partnership with University of Greenwich and City University to provide this programme and offer return to practice nurses the opportunity to complete their clinical hours in various inpatient and community settings across the Trust.

For more information, please contact us at NurseEducationTeam@slam.nhs.uk.

The CAMHS Nursing Academy is a training and development program which is based on the four pillars of advanced nursing practice, plus a fifth pillar, wellbeing, in recognition of the importance of self care:

• Clinical Practice
• Facilitation of Learning
• Leadership
• Evidence, Research and Development
• Wellbeing

Find out more