Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Nurse Consultant Development Programme

Event overview
- 29 Apr, 2024
- 24 months
- Approximately £5,640 (ACP) £6,400 (NC) for taught modules at St Christopher’s CARE. 4-6 payment instalments available on request
- All prices include VAT
- St Christopher's CARE and online
Register your interest
Useful information
- Email us
- 020 8768 4656
- How to find us
- Delegate accommodation
- Cancellation policy

Course overview
The potential contribution of senior nurses in palliative care has arguably never been greater. There is clear recognition on the part of Government, commissioners and providers of the value of strong clinical leadership to meet emerging demographic, disease specific, regulatory and other challenges. Simultaneously, there is new rhetoric and clarity about the potential role of nurses alongside medical and other colleagues to fulfil such a leadership role.
This unique course will offer sustained opportunity for nurses who aspire to be advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) or nurse consultants (NCs) to gain the skills and knowledge required within these roles. We welcome nurses from across the NHS, private and voluntary sector.
The programme is divided into two parts. All learners start together for the first half of the programme. Then, those that wish to advance their role beyond advanced nursing practice to that of a consultant remain for the second half of the programme.
For more information about the programme, please contact the Professional Learning Team at education@stchristophers.org.uk
We welcome nurses who fulfil the following criteria:
- At least three years of experience of working at Band 7 or equivalent in nursing
- Significant experience of palliative and end of life care delivery
- Completion (or near completion) of a master’s level programme of learning
- Completion of advanced physical assessment modules and independent prescribing or intention to complete within the upcoming 18 months
- A passion for self-development
- A desire to be a highly effective and authentic leader
Those accepted must be working for an organisation with a structure and systems that can support nurses who are advanced practitioners, or those who aspire to be so.
All employing organisations must be able to confirm that:
- there is a senior nurse and/or doctor who are willing and able to assess and sign off competencies that they witness in the course of the practice of the aspiring ACP or NC
- there is agreement to support the nurse’s programme of development for its duration through financial help, time away from clinical responsibilities to study and re-alignment of responsibilities in the course of training to allow experience of quality improvement and similar
Teaching will be provided by a mix of clinicians, leaders in health care, academics and peers. Learners should expect to learn in person and virtually.
This will comprise a total of 33 days of contact days for the ACP in training and 42 contact days for the NC in training distributed across an 18/24 month period respectively. These may be half or full days. A proportion will be in person in CARE as per the table below.
Contact learning days | In Person | Virtual | Total |
Advanced Clinical Practitioner | 15 | 18 | 33 |
Nurse Consultant | 20 | 22 | 42 |
For full details of the programme structure, learning modules and assessment, please refer to our prospectus.
Learning will be supported through:
- lectures, seminars and webinars
- workshops
- communities of practice
- guided reflections
- clinical observations and placements
- an online learning platform
As a result of attending the programme, learners can expect to:
- Appreciate the contemporary context in which palliative and end of life care must be delivered
- Understand the multi-faceted role of an ACP or NC role within this context
- Feel confident to provide highly skilled, evidence-based and individualised care/support to people who are dying and those close to them
- Recognise and respond to opportunities for nurse leadership at individual, team, organisational and system levels
- Understand the different dimensions of quality in contemporary healthcare
- Take hold of opportunities to advance the profession of nursing
Meet your Programme Leaders
The programme will be led by the following directors who will guide you through your course of study and provide ongoing support to help you succeed.