Kathryn Tolfree, Head of FHFT Education Academy, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and Chair of CNE Network and Vanda Carter, Programme Manager, Staffordshire University, Deputy Chair of CNE Network
The World Health Organisation (WHO) (2020) anticipate an 8% increase of graduate nurses will be required to support global healthcare demand by 2030. Within the England it is estimated that there could be a supply-demand gap of nurses by over 140,000 by 2030 (Royal College of Nursing (RCN), 2022). The Long-Term Workforce Plan (National Health Service England (NHSE), 2023) sets out ways in which the healthcare workforce will be transformed via training, retaining and reforming. Specifically for nursing there is an ambition to increase all fields of nursing training places by 2031/2, including an increase in adult nursing places by 65-80% (NHSE, 2023).
To meet the outlined demand of increasing, retaining, and reforming the nursing workforce, a skilled educator workforce is required (Health Education England (HEE), 2023). Currently there is no nationally agreed template of job titles or description for nurses working within the practice, or clinical, education setting. Therefore, Clinical nurse educator (CNE) is a term that is used to encompass a broad range of roles in practice education including, but not limited to the pre-registration and post-registration education and development of nurses and maintenance of a high-quality learning environment (Hampson et al., 2017; Coffey and White, 2019; Coventry and Russell, 2021).
Engagement in communities of practice for CNEs are a method to support CNE role transition and identity (Coates and Fraser, 2014; Woods et al., 2022). Clinical Nurse Educator Network (CNE Network) was developed to engage and facilitate a supportive community for nurses within education roles, working across the United Kingdom (UK), in any social or health care setting. Established in 2014, the network builds connections, offers peer support, elevates the importance of educator roles, shares resources, enables professional discussion and debate including the synthesis and promotion of evidence and best practices. The network also aims to influence policy at local, regional, and national level and have a strong following nationally. CNE Network produces a quarterly newsletter and holds events to bring members together with shared interests. The network has approximately 3000 members, from diverse specialities and backgrounds.
As we look forward towards the end of the year we are excited to be holding this year’s network conference at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust around the theme of “person centred education”. We will be joined by guest speakers from the Foundation of Nursing Studies and Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. Alongside invited guest speakers we will have CNE Network members contributing towards agenda sharing their practice and experience. Hearing about members work visibility ignites discussions and passion both in the room at events, and then the inspiration often continues via a ripple effect as content is shared across social media and beyond.
We are committed to fostering nursing excellence in education through connecting, supporting, advocating and inspiring members. We are supported by a voluntary steering group committee and our activities are run on the generosity of its members, their commitment and their creativity. We will be offering more development and networking opportunities and we look forward to meeting more of you, hearing about your wonderful work and amplifying your voice. We welcome partnership and collaboration opportunities with the wider nursing community as we start to look towards our plans for the network in 2025. You may be interested in presenting your work and area of specialism, hosting future network events, providing sponsorship or suggesting speakers for us to approach to hear from.
If you are a nurse based in a clinical or practice setting, working in an education related role we encourage you to join us! We aspire to continue to increase the diversity of our increase our membership representation across all corners of the country including the UK devolved nations of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Membership is currently free and can be applied for via Clinical Nurse Educator Network – FHFT Education Academy.
The authors are happy to be contacted via email: Kathryn.tolfree@nhs.net or vanda.carter@nhs.net
References
Coates, K. and Fraser, K. (2014). A case for collaborative networks for clinical nurse educators. Nurse Education Today, 34(1), pp.6–10.
Coffey, J.S. and White, B.L. (2019). The Clinical Nurse Educator Role: A Snapshot in Time. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 50(5), pp.228–232.
Coventry, T.H. and Russell, K.P. (2021). Clinical sympathy – A mixed method study of the relationship between the clinical nurse educator and the graduate nurse. Nurse Education in Practice, 55, p.103150.
Hampson, J., Gunning, H., Nicholson, L., Gee, C., Jay, D. and Sheppard, G. (2017). Role of clinical practice educators in an integrated community and mental health NHS foundation trust. Nursing Standard, [online] 32(7), pp.49–55.
Health Education England (2023). Educator Workforce Strategy. [online] Available at: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/educator-workforce-strategy
NHS England (2023). NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. [online] Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-long-term-workforce-plan/
Royal College of Nursing (2022). Investing in Patient Safety and Outcomes Health and care nursing workforce and supply in England. [online] Available at: https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/investing-in-patient-safety-and-outcomes-uk-pub-010-567
Woods, A., Cashin, A. and Horstmanshof, L. (2022). The social construction of nurse educator professional identities: Exploring the impact of a community of practice through participatory action research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78(8).
World Health Organisation (2020) State of the Worlds Nursing 2020. [online]. Available at: State of the world’s nursing 2020: investing in education, jobs and leadership (who.int)