Succession planning - Moving forward and building capacity
The NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Advanced Practice Succession Planning Development Pathway was devised to enable a generic, flexible and sustainable framework, supporting educational solutions for advanced practice. It was envisaged that it would enhance capability and capacity within the nursing profession and promote a consistent approach nationally within Scotland. It acts as a flexible guide to support development and to enable participants, in collaboration with their employers, to identify their own educational needs and solutions to support their development.
The succession planning approach is focused upon 'building talent through flexible options to develop individuals'. The model recognises the value of work-based learning and assessment in identifying and developing the knowledge, skills and expertise to work at an advanced level. It also acknowledges existing academic education provision and the practitioner's prior learning.
Succession Planning Development Pathway
The pathway consists of four components: central supporting mechanisms, overarching themes, underpinning principles and educational solutions all of which are equally important.
Central supporting mechanisms - Organisational support or an infrastructure to support practitioners in their development is crucial to succession planning (McConnell, 2006; Helton & Jackson, 2007). Supportive mechanisms included in the pathway included:
Overarching themes outline well recognised domains of advanced practice documented in the international literature and outlined earlier in the 'Advanced Practice: Definitions' section.
Underpinning principles or attributes of advanced practice represent the aspects of practice which traditionally are more difficult to describe and articulate.
Educational solutions - chosen by participants on the succession planning pathway to meet their individual learning needs. Includes both academic and work-based learning.
The pathway is equally applicable for nurse practitioners wishing to develop clinical, managerial, educational and research advanced roles. Three cohorts of practitioners have now completed the Succession Planning Development Pathway and it has been shown to be applicable to individuals working in a diverse range of specialities and areas of practice. Further details are available in the evaluation of the experiences of the first two cohorts.
Work is ongoing to embed the principles of the succession planning approach in NHSScotland.
