Newly qualified health visitors represent the future of our wonderful profession. High quality preceptorship for health visitors is important to attracting and sustaining a highly skilled health visitor workforce. Beginning a new career in health visiting can be both exciting and daunting – its therefore vital that newly qualified health visitors receive the right support, at the right time, to enable them to grow and thrive throughout the preceptorship period and beyond. An effective preceptorship programme facilitated within a good learning environment that prioritises wellbeing, psychological safety, continued professional development and lifelong learning is key.
The iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting has been developed through an extensive collaborative process with a wide range of experts and stakeholders from all four nations of the UK. It is designed to outline best practice standards for high quality preceptorship for health visitors and complement relevant country-specific legislation, statutory requirements, organisational policies and procedures.
An effective preceptorship programme will prepare and support health visitors’ leadership development and ongoing practice-based learning to support the delivery of safe and effective care. In doing so, a health visitor preceptorship programme will contribute to reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes for babies, children, families and communities.
At this Insights, event, we launched the iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting. Our chair for this event was Dr Karen Whittaker, Senior Education and Workforce Lead, iHV and we were delighted to joined by guest speakers:
- Lynne Reed – Deputy Director 0-19 Clinical Programmes Unit, Chief Public Health Nurse Directorate
- Amanda Holland – iHV Professional Service Lead Project Lead and author of the iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting
- Marian Judd – Practice Lead/Health Visitor, HCRG Care Group, Wiltshire Children’s Community Service and co-author of the iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting
- Barbara Keenan – Clinical Educator for Health Visiting, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Ireland
- Dale Wilkinson – Clinical Practice Educator for Health Visiting, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Wales
- Tania Ferguson – Health Visitor Team Lead, Hawick, Scottish Borders Health and Social Care Partnership. Representing the Queen’s Nursing Institute, Scotland
- Betheny Oakes – Professional Lead for Practice Education, Swindon Borough Council, England and iHV Health Visitor Advisory Forum co-chair