Networks and Links

Nurse education in context

The task of involving service users and carers in nurse education has links with a number of other initiatives and local practitioners will make some of these links in their local area:

• A range of organisations promoting active patient participation in their own healthcare, such as the Shared Decision Making Collaborative.
• Patients' campaign groups, support groups and User-Led Organisations, such as the National Survivor User Network NSUN. For example, every student nurse at Plymouth University is linked to Patient Opinion and the Patient Experience Network collects stories of good practice in creating a positive patient experience.
• Community advocacy organisations, especially those that offer informal as well as statutory advocacy, and so support people who have difficulty communicating their views
• Community development organisations, including Councils of Voluntary Service and Self-Help organisations and the community groups they support (Regional Voices is a national network of regional voluntary sector networks).
• University staff who coordinate community engagement activities (networked by NCCPE)
• Service user and carer involvement in teaching other disciplines, such as medicine or social work
• Involvement and engagement leads in NHS trusts and private health providers, along with their involvement centres
• Patient and public involvement in health research (such as the McPin Foundation, Shaping our Lives, Suresearch and INVOLVE)
• Professional bodies supporting nurse education, such as the Association of District Nurse Educators and Mental Health Nurse Academics UK, who have set out a position paper on service user and carer involvement in nurse education

Networking organisations

An international group promoting service user and carer involvement in healthcare education generated the Vancouver Statement in 2015, following up from their first conference in 2005. In the United Kingdom, DUCIE and LEN are networking groups that promote service user and carer involvement in higher education (previous groups such as PEPIN and SUSTN have closed). The International Association of Service User Academia has a slightly different focus, but neighbouring interests, in that it is principally a group for academics who have personal lived experience of using mental health services. The East Midlands HEI Challenge included a workstream on service user and carer involvement in teaching and learning - see here. The National Involvement Partnership promotes coproduction in mental health services. PatientsIncluded has established an international charter for including patients in conferences and publications.

Blogs

• Blogging on service user and carer involvement in nurse education - Trevor Kettle.
• The Patient Patient
• British Medical Journal - the patient perspective
• Cardiff University

Webpages for service user and carer involvement in nurse education in universities

• Bournemouth, Bradford, Coventry, Edge Hill, Essex, Hull, Keele, Kingston University Centre for Public Engagement, Leeds, Manchester Metropolitan, Nottingham, Open, Salford, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, Swansea, Teesside, UCLan Comensus, UWE, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

Webpages for service user and carer involvement in healthcare provider organisations

• Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Webpages for other organisations that support service user and carer involvement in nurse education

• Health Education England - Wessex
• Kissing it better is a charity that promotes good ideas to improve healthcare. It also arranges visits to hospital by musicians, artists and others who will enrich inpatient life. The visitors (some of whom are at school or college) sometimes go on to train as nurses.

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