Daring to be different: A qualitative study exploring the education needs of the nurse consultant Franks Helen ⁎, Howarth Michelle University of Salford, College of Health & Social Care, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Frederick Road Campus, Frederick Road, Salford, M6 6PU, United Kingdom summary article info Article history: Accepted 31 May 2011 Keywords: Nurse consultant Education Preparation Nurse consultants are recognised experts and are one of the most senior nursing ‘clinical’ grades. How these roles have developed has varied but all require an armoury of expanded and extended skills. However, since their introduction in the UK little has been written about how they should be effectively prepared for the role. This study used a multi-method approach to establish a rich picture of the nurse consultant role (specialising in safeguarding children) in relation to their existing skills and perceived education needs. The job descriptions and specifications of a sample of consultant nurses (n = 4) established role expectations and content, whilst in-depth individual semi-structured interviews with the nurses and six key ‘stakeholders’ explored perspectives about the educational preparation and ongoing learning needs of those either in the role or aspiring to be. The findings suggest that whilst there are differences there is also some convergence in their developmental needs. For example, that mentorship and academic and leadership support were integral to meeting their learning needs, to optimise effectiveness and to enhance future role development. It is vital therefore that those wishing to ‘grow’ consultant nurses implement a range of educational strategies to support the continued professional and clinical development of current and future post holders. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction The nurse consultant is one of the most senior ‘clinical’ grades in nursing. In recent years a plethora of new nursing roles have emerged in a range of clinical nursing specialisms including safeguarding children services. In the United Kingdom (UK) the nurse consultant role was introduced over a decade ago, spanning four central domains: expert practice; professional leadership and consultancy; education and training; and a practice development function including research and evaluation (DH, 1999a). Since their introduction numbers of nurse consultants in post in the UK National Health Service (NHS) have risen gradually from an initial 130 posts in 2001 to 1134 posts in 2010 (NHS IC). Internationally, several advanced nursing roles have evolved, for example, clinical nurse specialists in North America (Dunn, 1997), nurse practitioners in New Zealand and nurse consultants in Australia (O'Baugh et al., 2007; Duffield et al., 2009). The ways in which these roles have developed vary (Daly and Carnwell, 2003; Duffield et al., 2009), leading to uncertainty about how advanced nurses, in particular how nurse consultants, should be prepared. Answering this conun- drum poses challenges to higher education providers and managers in health care organisations when considering ways to prepare and develop current and future nurse consultants. Globally, the nurse consultant role, like other advanced nursing roles was intended to enable expert, senior nurses to remain clinically focussed. In the UK the inception of nurse consultants also reflected the changing context of nursing practice in a modernising NHS (DH, 1999a, b). Skills including leadership, the ability to disseminate knowl- edge, carry out research and engage in quality assurance and risk management are key role attributes. In the context of safeguarding children, as with other nurse consultant roles, it is clear that the role is still evolving and that there is a wide variation in their remit. In addition, it is also evident that their roles are constantly developing as they become more established and as health care organisations change to meet new priorities. Nurse consultants are expected to lead and deliver high level quality care, to ensure value for money and to maximise health gain. To fa- cilitate this it is essential that nurse consultants receive the requisite education, training and support to prepare them both academically and clinically for their roles and that their specific characteristics (clinical, personal and professional) are transparent within the role parameters. Background The nurse consultant role has a wide remit, calling for a range of skills and the ability to work both operationally and strategically (Duffield et al., 2009; Manley, 1997). Humphreys et al (2007) in a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of the nurse consultant role identified several themes which can be linked to the four Nurse Education Today 32 (2012) 406–411 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 44 161 295 6420. E-mail address: h.franks@salford.ac.uk (F. Helen). 0260-6917/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2011.05.021 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Nurse Education Today journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/nedt