gms | German Medical Science

In view of the rapid increase of highly complex care situations due to demographic processes the increase of chronically ill or multimorbid patients, economic considerations and the general demand for evidence based health care, the German Science Council recommends a rate of 10% to 20% of academically trained nurses [1]. Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) provides delivery of nursing and health care services based on expert knowledge, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice (http://international.aanp.org). Highly trained nurses in this field are experienced clinical professionals holding a master degree or higher.

To this day, five master courses in APN have been developed in Germany, all of them being consecutive programs. Given the fact that the target group for this post-graduate qualification comprises mostly clinically working professionals, part-time courses are required to meet the need for flexible study conditions. The University of Oldenburg is currently developing a new Master's program “Erweiterte Pflegepraxis” that is specifically designed for working nursing staff. A blended learning concept is implemented to keep the attendance phase for the students to a feasible duration. Distance learning is supported through an online learning platform and students are supervised by a team consisting of one lecturer and one or two mentors. Since a major focus of the practice-oriented program is teaching clinical assessment skills, it is a major challenge to integrate face-to-face instruction and training on-site into the offered courses.

Here we present an approach to combine a distance learning concept with clinical practice training. Students apply their academic and technical skills by completing several examination tasks within their care units. Using a buddy-system, they are urged to find experienced professionals, either medical or academically trained nursing staff, who guide them through their assessment exercises. Subsequently, their observations are recorded in a learning diary. This method not only provides students with clinical experiences, it also is of great relevance for inter-professional learning and collaboration.

A test run of the module “Erweitertes klinisches Assessment” started in November this year. Evaluation results will be available in time for the conference.