Developing the new practitioner

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Abstract
In the second part of this series on issues in ward management facing charge nurses, Claire Hale examines the role of the charge nurse in relation to three areas Which are fundamental to Project 2000: the supernumerary status of students, the linking of theory to practice and the provision of a suitable learning environment. With the success or otherwise of the new courses depending to such a large extent on the enthusiasm and co-operation of charge nurses, the author suggests a number of tangible ‘rewards’ which may be offered in recognition of their efforts It is hard to imagine what graduates of the new Project 2000 courses will be like. Will they be radically different from the products of conventional RGN courses, or will they be simply old wine in new bottles? After all, the nurses on these new courses will be taught by teachers who taught on the old ones, they will have placements in many of the clinical areas to which conventional students have been allocated, and they will be working in these areas with nurses who were trained under the old system. Certainly the structure of the Project 2000 courses will be different from that of conventional training courses and it is likely that the changes in structure alone will have an important effect upon the nature of the product of the course. Nevertheless, the quality of the product will be reflected in the quality of the practical experience provided and the manner in which practice is linked to theory. Since charge nurses are key people in institutional care settings their conceptualisation of their role and their behaviour in relation to the new students will be crucial in the development of the new practitioner.

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