Building foundations for the future: the NHS Scotland advanced practice succession planning development pathway.

AIM: To highlight implications for managers from the implementation of a national advanced practice succession planning development pathway within Scotland. BACKGROUND: Internationally, advanced practice posts have often developed in an ad-hoc manner, with little organizational attention to succession planning. Evaluation of a pilot national succession planning development pathway identified mechanisms which facilitate or hamper effective planning for advanced practice roles. METHODS: A responsive evaluation design incorporating semi-structured questionnaires to pathway participants (n = 15) and semi-structured telephone interviews with case-site pathway participants (n = 7) and their line managers. RESULTS: Managers believed the development pathway was worthwhile; however, there was limited strategic planning to match individuals' development to service need. Practitioners generally perceived managers as interested in their development, although levels of practical support varied. There is concern from both managers and practitioners regarding ongoing funding for advanced practice development. CONCLUSION: The present evaluation study reiterates the need for organizational commitment to succession planning including robust service needs analysis mechanisms and adequate funding for development processes. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers are viewed as the 'gatekeepers' to opportunities for developing advanced nurse practitioners; scare resources must be targeted effectively to support succession planning through the development of selected individuals for future advanced practice posts, justified by service need.

Research priorities in haemato-oncology nursing: results of a literature review and a Delphi study.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to review the nursing haemato-oncology literature followed by a Delphi study to determine research priorities of UK nurses working in haemato-oncology. METHODS AND SAMPLE: The review analysed relevant literature from 1996-2008. In the Delphi study, all members of the Royal College of Nursing (UK), Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Forum (n=1444) were invited to participate. Data were collected in three sequential rounds of postal questionnaires. Research topics identified in round 1 were used to compile subsequent questionnaires. KEY RESULTS: A final list of 33 research priorities was identified. Clear research themes emerged from the data including chemotherapy, psychosocial issues and information giving, psychological support needs of nurses, ethical considerations and palliative care, nurse-led services and guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Results show both similarities and differences to priorities identified in previous haemopoietic stem cell transplant and cancer nursing studies. Further exploration of priority areas is required but priorities identified in this study provide a good starting point for further exploration and development of research programmes.