Advanced Clinical Practice

You develop your knowledge and skills within the four pillars of advanced clinical practice – research, education, leadership and clinical. You are supported to develop and apply advanced knowledge and skills to your practice through work-based learning.

To meet the workforce requirements set out in the NHS Plan to maintain and increase capacity in healthcare, many of the professions allied to medicine are now required to develop and extend their role in the care of patients to support the medical team.
This module prepares you as a practitioner for those role developments requiring advanced clinical competence.

We prepare you to meet the national professional requirements for the education and practice of a broadly based advanced healthcare professional who is able to contribute autonomously to the holistic management of acute and chronic disease states in both primary and generalist secondary care sectors.

The module is competency based and equips you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to be operational in the physical assessment, diagnostic and patient management components of the role of advanced practitioner for the professions allied to medicine. We focus on advanced competence in physical assessment, symptom and sign analysis, evidenced-based therapeutics, patient-centred care, communication and ethics.

We assess the module via a clinical examination and a written examination with equal weighting; you are required to be successful in both assessment components to complete the module.

This module prepares you to undertake a structured, person-centred, holistic assessment. You apply your person-centred consultation skills and develop an understanding of a systematic assessment process as applied to clinical practice.

You develop the fundamental skills of holistic assessment. Our systematic approach recognises the symbiotic relationship between the physical and psychological self, and their interconnectedness. Holistic assessment skills are delivered in a classroom/lab setting. You further develop your practical skills guided by a practice facilitator.

You gain the knowledge and skills you need to design and manage a primary or secondary research audit or evaluation project that's relevant to your practice. You also cover research governance and ethics, and prepare for applying for ethical approval or release. And we prepare you for your dissertation if you choose to progress to the master's course.

Independent and supplementary prescribing is an integrated feature of health service delivery – some health-specific professionals are qualified to prescribe across a range of healthcare settings. Advancing roles within both nursing and allied health professions have provided a greater access to medicines. This award provides nurses and allied health professionals (physiotherapists, radiographers, podiatrists, dietitians and paramedics who are working in advanced practice roles) with the knowledge and skills to prescribe safely and effectively. You must work within your own scope of practice and area of competence, and be in a position to complete the care cycle in a holistic manner for clients within your care. You must meet the individual entry criteria for this course.

You explore a specific area of advanced professional practice or academic study in depth, critically evaluating relevant theory and research, and linking this theory to advanced professional practice. Your chosen topic should demonstrate development in your area of specialist practice.

You are encouraged and facilitated in an independent approach to learning with tutor support. The module leader introduces you to the module and assessment process at the beginning of the semester. You are allocated a supervisor who provides tutorial support. Alternatively you can study this module online through the virtual learning environment and email.

Assessment is negotiated within the learning contract and can take a variety of forms such as a 4,000-word written assignment, viva, defended poster or a report. The assessment must include a critical evaluation of the impact of the module on your personal learning and professional practice.

This innovative approach to developing a portfolio dissertation enables you to demonstrate how acquiring mastery impacts on clinical practice. You evidence how you have developed as an independent, autonomous advanced practitioner within your specialist area of expertise.

This is a negotiated independent learning portfolio, demonstrating you have achieved the four pillars of advanced practice – research, leadership, education and clinical practice. You do this through a negotiated practice competency and an autonomous independent 3,000-word piece of work in the format of an appropriate academic journal article. This can take the form of a research project, service evaluation, audit or systematic review with approval from ethics committees if required. A viva explores and justifies the approach and methodologies used for your project. You also explore your findings and recommendations. And you examine areas for developing practice and disseminating findings to instigate change.

Using a blended approach, you must attend three, three-hour seminars in semester 1. The sessions are designed to establish, maintain and support you throughout the dissertation module. You are allocated an academic supervisor in Year 2 of the course. The academic supervisor guides and supports you throughout the ethics submission and development of your portfolio. Support from an appropriately qualified clinical supervisor in practice is an essential prerequisite for the module. 

This module supports the end-point assessment if you are studying this course as part of the integrated degree apprenticeship. The end-point assessment demonstrates that you have achieved the four pillars of advanced practice – research, leadership, education and clinical practice. You need to achieve 160 credits.

You draw on a combination of practice experience, clinical supervision and blended approaches to teaching. For the practice aspect of the module your allocated clinical supervisor provides guidance on the clinical aspects of your case study and the suitability of your topic for a clinical practice change report. You have three contact sessions, each lasting six hours within semester 2, to establish, develop and maintain your ability to address the criteria for the module and related assignments.

This innovative approach to developing your dissertation enables you to demonstrate how acquiring mastery impacts on your clinical practice. Your negotiated independent project demonstrates how you are achieving the four pillars of advanced practice – research, leadership, education and clinical practice.

Using a blended approach, you must attend for three, three-hour seminars in semester 1. The sessions establish, maintain and provide support throughout the dissertation module. You are allocated an academic supervisor in Year 2 of the course to guide and support you throughout the project.

This module is assessed by a 3,000-word journal article, demonstrating advanced practice within your area of interest. This can take the form of a research project, service evaluation, audit or systematic review. This informs your development of the specialist area of practice identified within your role. You are expected to write the research paper in a format appropriate for publication, although the paper does not need to be published as part of this module.