Other nursing resources

The Be a Greater Manchester Nurse campaign aims to recruit nurses in Greater Manchester, growing the profession and opening up opportunities for current, returning and future practitioners.

Nursing is, very simply, a vital profession, essential to everyone’s health, and our society. There’s nowhere better to be a nurse than Greater Manchester, where the choice of roles and career paths is as diverse as the area itself.

As a nurse here, you’ll have access to plenty of support too. When you want to start the next phase of your career, or change direction, you can do that here too, without having to relocate. So whether you’re a student, a nurse somewhere else in the UK, or a trained nurse who’s taken time out, you can make a nursing role your own in Greater Manchester.

There has never been a more exciting time to become a Greater Manchester nurse. Find out more at www.greatermanchesternurses.co.uk and #GreaterManchesterNurses #beagreatermanchesternurse .

Too often nursing goes unsung. That’s why the campaign film below is proudly supported by Greater Manchester’s own musical heroes.

Becoming a Registered Nurse

With so many people to care for – and the range of trusts, hospitals, primary and community services within our network – we can offer an impressive range of roles. You can work in hospital wards, outpatient units or specialist departments, or get out into the community, working in homes, GP practices or nursing homes. You could focus on adults, children, mental health or people with learning disabilities. There are also many opportunities in education, research, informatics and workplaces, the ambulance service, prison service and police – and we also have links with the voluntary and private sectors.

When you’re ready to move, we make it simple to change roles. So you can grow your skills in a particular area, or move sideways to take on a new role. You can also apply your skills with a different provider.

Return to Practice

However long it’s been since you were last registered as a nurse, we’ll make it enjoyable to return to this proud profession. You’ll need to complete a Return to Practice course. Financial support for this is paid for by Health Education England (and comes with an additional £500 to cover things like books, parking and childcare).

The course takes around six months, depending on how long you’ve been away and the clinical hours you need to complete. The minimum 22.5 hours per week in practice can also be tailored to work around your commitments. You’ll be able to immerse yourself in all the latest teaching and techniques, on an innovative and exciting course, which prepares you for clinical practice. And then, you’ll get back to doing what you do best – being a skilled, empathetic, experienced nurse.

Train to be a nurse

A nursing career isn’t something to be taken lightly. It calls for great focus and astute decision-making, and so training is essential. However, with the right approach, and the support we can offer through tutors, mentors / practice assessors / practice supervisor and university support networks, everything’s in place to ensure you succeed.

We have a reputation for holistic education. As well as covering the theory, we ensure you understand the clinical implications and practical applications of nursing. Outside of classroom work, you’ll also undertake a number of hospital and community placements, each introducing you to a new area of care, from sexual health to cardiology to A&E. You’ll also have a mentor / practice assessor / practice supervisor on each placement, who’ll be invaluable in supporting you. Their experience, knowledge and skill will help you to develop and unlock your full potential.

NHS England and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are regularly asked for advice by Practice Managers and General Practitioners regarding nurse competencies, job descriptions and career pathways including levels of pay, terms and conditions for Nurses working in general practice.

Practices need to be able to attract the best and most talented nurses who are committed to a career pathway within general practice.

The GM General Practice Nurse Collaborative (GPN) has developed this resource pack in order that practices have this advice available to them when recruiting new staff.

The advice is based on Health Education England’s recommendations as outlined in the Career Framework for General Practice Nursing (HEE 2015).

Download Greater Manchester General Practice Nursing Resource Pack and General Practice Nursing Induction Template

This competency framework addresses the common core competencies and the wider range of skills, knowledge and behaviours a nurse needs, to be a fully proficient General Practice Nurse (GPN).

Download General Practice Nurse competency framework

The competency framework is designed as an initial self-assessment tool to help individuals recognise their current level of competence and identify specific areas for further development. It can form the foundation of a portfolio of continuing professional development to assist all practitioners regularly review their level of competence and ensure they continue work within their scope of their professional practice.

The competency framework can also inform and support commissioning process; the design and delivery of education and training; workforce planning as part of recruitment, retention and progression (for example, job design, benchmarking candidates and the framing of interview questions); practice revalidation and evidence of meeting national quality standards.

Advanced Nurse Practitioner competency framework

The following documents provide guidance for educators, GP employers and aspiring Advanced Nurse Practitioners.

Download the General Practice Advanced Nurse Practitioner Competencies Framework and the Assessment documentation for use with Mentor / Assessor

The General Practice Nurse Education Network (GPNEN) is dedicated to excellence in General Practice Nursing and Education. The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) has been funded by NHS England to develop a network to support General Practice Nurses. This network is part of a number of initiatives arising from the General Practice Nursing Ten Point Plan.

The GPNEN provides a repository of online resources to assist those nurses working in General Practice looking for continuing professional development initiatives and support.

Visit the GPNEN website at https://gpnen.org.uk.

This course aims to enhance the competence and confidence of registered practitioners new to working with a General Practice surgery, as autonomous professionals.

This program of education will be delivered over a 12-month period via blended learning and will consist of a combination of e-learning, classroom based teaching and independent study. Please note it is a requirement of attending the study sessions that all aspects of the course are completed. Assessment is included within the programme of learning.

Download Practice Nurse Foundation Course flyer | Practice Nurse Foundation Course programme

This program of learning aims to provide the learner with the knowledge and skills needed to enable progression from novice to advanced beginner in the assessment and management of the following:

  • CVD Risk Assessment
  • Heart Failure
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Hypertension
  • Stroke
  • Adult Asthma
  • CKD
  • Pre-Diabetes
  • COPD
  • Coronary Artery Disease
  • Type 2 Diabetes
  • Tobacco Dependency

This course is free of charge for all those who work in Stockport General Practices. For those outside of Stockport the cost is £620 per person, this includes the e-learning and workbook.

Please note all nurses attending will need to have a mentor within the practice to support them and sign them off as competent. This needs to be a registered nurse up to date and competent in the areas they will be supporting. Mentors are welcome to attend this programme too. For Stockport practices unable to provide mentorship, or requiring support with this please contact the CCG to access the available support via
stoccg.learningdevelopment@nhs.net.

Bookings for this course should be made via the Virtual College LMS
https://stockportccg.virtual-college.co.uk/Default.aspx. If booking as a mentor please
indicate that in the reason for booking when booking your place. External delegates can book via e-mail to stoccg. learningdevelopment@nhs.net. Enquires can be made via stoccg.learningdevelopment@nhs.net or 07393 798115.

General practice nurses (GPN) in the Premiere Health Team, Leigh (Wigan CCG) and West Gorton (Manchester CCG) medical practices introduced group consultations for adults with Type 2 Diabetes. This new approach has led to better outcomes, experiences and use of resources locally.

There were many patients with Type 2 diabetes registered with GP practices. The GPNs knew they spent significant time in consultations with patients about managing their diabetes and were aware that their repetition of information and advice was not impacting on health outcomes. It was identified that group consultations could be an opportunity to improve outcomes and access, whilst engaging patients in a different way that offered the potential to provide a more social and less medical model of planned care. Experience in other parts of England suggested that it could also improve staff experience by reducing repetition and creating more time to care and support patients.

Group consultations have a strong evidence base of impact in diabetes, with seven randomised controlled trials showing improvements in HbA1c compared to usual (1:1) care (Edelman et al, 2015).

At West Gorton practice, GPNs introduced a programme of two group consultations, four months’ apart. Patients with Type 2 Diabetes were identified based on who was due their diabetes review using recall software. The nurses ran the groups together; one nurse acting as a group facilitator. The first session focused on HbA1c, blood pressure, cholesterol, Body Mass Index (BMI), eye and foot checks and medicines. The second session centred around issues that patients wanted to explore further, which they identified at the first session.

At Premiere Health practice in Leigh, a GPN, supported by a non-clinician facilitator and a student nurse adopted a group consultation approach, offering three monthly sessions to Type 2 diabetes patients. At the first session, weight and blood pressure measurements were taken and it became clear that weight control was the group’s biggest issue. In response to this, at follow-up consultations, the team prepared healthy recipes to encourage more home cooking and ran a food quiz to identify hidden sugars in common shopping basket foods. Alongside this, clinical aspects of diabetes such as impact on the kidneys and blood pressure were discussed. The food quiz had a huge impact and the hidden sugar in foods shocked everyone involved.

Across the two practices, 31 patients that were followed up at 3 months achieved an average 10% reduction in HBA1c, indicating an improvement in blood glucose management. Six patients at the Premiere Health practice achieved reductions in blood pressure (average reduction of systolic 12.5% and diastolic 5%) and an average weight reduction of 3.9%.

Read more about this case study

The Greater Manchester Training Hub offer General Practice Nurse fellowships that provide one session per week (pro rota) protected learning time over 2 years. This will support your induction into your practice, PCN and STP.

You will have a supervisor for the 2 years as well as access to Peer support group and Coaching. You will be given the opportunity to develop portfolio working with your PCN as well as a learning and development programme to help you develop your skills as a GPN.

You can apply to start a fellowship within the first 12 months of completing your nurse training. You would need to hold a substantive salaried or Partner role, delivering GMS services.

Download the Greater Manchester General Practice Nurse Fellowships flyer and the information for practices.

The Greater Manchester Training Hub also have GM preceptorship programme for those nurses new to primary care.

The General Practice Fellowship programme is a national commitment announced in the NHS Long Term Plan, and restated in the February 2020 ‘Update to the GP Contract agreement 2020/21–2023/24’.

It is a two-year programme of support, available to all newly-qualified GPs and nurses working substantively in general practice, with an explicit focus on working within and across a Primary Care Network (PCN). Integrated care systems (ICSs) and Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) should encourage all eligible clinicians to sign up, and aim for as close to 100% coverage as possible

The programme offers support with PCN portfolio working and learning and development post-registration, supporting nurses and GPs to take up substantive roles, understand the context they are working in and become embedded in the PCN, as well as increase and maintain high levels of participation in the primary care workforce.

Participants receive funded mentorship and funded CPD opportunities of one session per week (pro rata), and rotational placements within or across PCNs to develop experience and support transition into the workforce.

The General Practice Fellowship programme guidance outlines the programme which all Integrated Care Systems and Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, Primary Care Networks, training hubs and other local partners are expected to continue delivery of in 2020/21, utilising national funding, and building on the first stage of the offer which was launched in the latter part of 2019/20. The enhanced 2020/21 offer launch was delayed from 1 April to August to respect local capacity needed in relation to COVID-19.

Download the General Practice Fellowship programme guidance.

The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) is a registered charity dedicated to improving the nursing care of people in the home and community.

The QNI promotes excellent nursing care for everyone, where and when they need it, provided by nurses and their teams with specific skills and knowledge.

The QNI achieves this by:

  • supporting a national network of Queen’s Nurses, who are committed to the highest standards of care and who lead and inspire others
  • funding nurses’ own ideas to improve patient care, helping them develop their skills through leadership and training programmes
  • publishing research into nursing practice, workforce and education, improving knowledge and standards
  • influencing government, policy makers and employers, and campaigning for investment in high quality community nursing services
  • By offering educational grants to enhance nurses’ clinical knowledge
  • helping working and retired community nurses in times of financial need or life crisis
  • linking up working and retired nurses for regular telephone contact.

Visit the QNI website to find out more at https://www.qni.org.uk.