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‘I am free from the managerial work that ties the nurses up’
Paul Smith-James, an assistant practitioner at Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, works on a urology ward.
'I insert and remove catheters, do wound dressings, remove stitches and manage drains, among many other things. I have training in medicines administration, but cannot carry out drug rounds because I must learn about each drug individually, then add it to my portfolio. I can put up intravenous fluids such as saline and flush cannulae, and soon I will be able to insert cannulae.'
Mr Smith-James used to care for people with learning difficulties. He then started adult nurse training, but did not complete all the modules so he returned to his care assistant job. 'I was surprised to be offered the assistant practitioner (AP) post, but I was fast-tracked because I have a diploma in health and social care,' he says.
Mr Smith-James feels he has more interaction with patients than nurses do.
'Although I am a band lower than ward nurses, there is not much difference in pay and I am free from the managerial work that ties the nurses up,' he says. His ambition is to move into emergency care. 'Although I am happy as an AP, I may reconsider nursing later.'
Mr Smith-James believes the AP role is used well in his trust. 'I have been assessed as competent in my area and am well trained, whereas nurses can be moved from ward to ward. I have a nurse mentor and we work to increase the medications I can give. The ward manager drew up a list of skills she wanted me to be competent in and if I need help, I get it.'
Mentorship
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Mentorship enables student nurses to apply their theoretical knowledge and put it into practice in a clinical situation.
Working abroad
Read and learn from others' experience of working in different countries.
The RCN Publishing Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal College of Nursing, the world's largest organisation for nurses. RCN Publishing produces one weekly, eight monthly and two quarterly nursing publications. Nursing Standard, the flagship journal, is the UK's biggest selling weekly for nursing. It is produced by RCN Publishing Company along with a suite of specialist nursing journals - Cancer Nursing Practice, Mental Health Practice, Learning Disability Practice, Nursing Children and Young People, Nursing Management, Emergency Nurse, Nursing Older People, Nurse Researcher and Primary Health Care. RCN Publishing Company also produce the RCN Bulletin, a major source of up-to-the-minute information for RCN members in all specialities, grades and working environments. With the latest nurse vacancies from trusts nationwide, it has become the most cost-effective nurse recruitment magazine available.