Successful Older Person's Fellowship launches applications for its 2017/18 cohort
The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London, is delighted to announce that the successful national Older Person’s Fellowship is now open for applications for its 2017/18 intake.
Now entering its third year, the Older Person’s Nurse Fellowship has expanded to include both nurses and allied health professionals, and rebranded as the Older Person’s Fellowship. The programme is sponsored by Health Education England (HEE) and delivered by the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London.
The Older Person’s Fellowship is designed to enhance care for older people, and progress the development of older people’s care as a speciality in nursing and the allied health professions. The Fellowship focuses on equipping front-line practitioners with up-to-date clinical knowledge and quality improvement skills to deliver age-attuned services for older people.
The programme is unique in that it is targeted at senior (NHS Band 7/8) clinical nurses and allied health professionals, and it recruits students from across England and across all care settings. Eligible candidates are those working clinically with a predominately older population in the community, primary care, intermediate care, acute care, mental health, social care, hospice or voluntary sectors.
Quality improvement projects, completed as part of the Fellowship, are disseminated through an annual conference at King’s College London (next taking place on the 20th June 2017), as well as national and international conferences. Previous projects have had a positive impact on older people and their families, and two Fellowship participants have also received awards for their work or leadership.
Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, Director of Nursing and National Deputy Director of Education and Quality at Health Education England, said: "The ethos of the Older Person’s Fellowship is quality, safety, service transformation and innovation in older person’s care. The Fellows are confident, competent and compassionate leaders who are driving change in our health services and helping to transform person-centred services. If you are someone who wants to make a real change to the way we provide care, I urge you to take up this offer. I was delighted to meet our first fellows last year and look forward to welcoming our new cohort to the fellowship."
Dr Corina Naughton, the Fellowship’s academic lead at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, said: “We are delighted to expand this national Fellowship to include both nurses and allied health professionals this year, given that effective cross-disciplinary working is so important for older people’s care. Future fellows will join a dynamic network and have the opportunity to champion the voice of older people, as well as act as role models to attract early-career nurses and AHPs to this exciting speciality.”
The closing date for applications to the Older Person’s Fellowship is the 10th November 2016. There are 30 funded places (tuition fees and travel) on the 12 month course for 2017/18 entry. The Fellowship builds on participants’ experiences and capabilities, with students awarded a postgraduate certificate in Advanced Practice on successful completion of the course.
For further information and to apply please visit the Older Person’s Fellowship website.
Watch the videos from the Older Person's Nurse Fellowship Conference in June 2016.