Skills for Health has released a career and core capacities framework for general practice and primary care nurses in order to to help Health Education England achieve the aims of the 10-point GPN action plan from 2017.
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The framework is made up of two components: a career framework, and a core capabilities framework. The career framework details the six career levels whereas the core capabilities framework lays out the knowledge, skills, and behaviour for different levels of practice.
The six career levels detailed in the report are:
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- Support Work Level Practice
- Nursing Associate Level/Assistant Practitioner Level Practice
- Registered Nurse Level Practice
- Registered Nurse: Enhanced Level Practice
- Registered Nurse: Advanced Level Practice
- Registered Nurse: Consultant Level Practice
For example, the Skills for Care framework states that a Registered Nurse Level Practice ‘will have a comprehensive, specialised, factual, and theoretical knowledge within a field of work and an awareness of the boundaries of that knowledge’.
In addition, the document lays out 14 capabilities across 4 core domains, which are categorised according three tiers.
For current nurses, the framework is designed to promote ‘primary care as a career option for a wide range of individuals as well as giving a clear sense of the ways in which to progress’.
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It is also hoped that the framework will help current patients ‘understand what they can expect from primary care staff’ and ‘be useful for those who want an awareness of the layout of primary care nursing if they are in roles such as patient or lay representatives’.
