Prototyping a new minimum standard for general practice nurse education

Abstract

Many nurses new to general practice struggle to access appropriate education. Sue Crossman and Gill Rogers explain a new piece of work that aims to develop a minimum standard to raise the quality and consistency of training in London This article presents a general practice nurse (GPN) education standard developed by Capital Nurse in London with an expert group of stakeholders with relevant experience in the field. The goal is to reduce variation in the content and quality of education courses that prepare nurses to work in general practice, providing a kitemark that identifies whether courses meet this standard. This work attempts to address the inequalities experienced by many nurses new to general practice, who struggle to determine the education they need to achieve competence in their role. The standard has been called the GPN ‘Qualification in Specialism Standard’ and is to be adopted and tested by Higher Education institutions across London in 2020.