Welcome to the New Roles section which contains tools and guidance to help you and your managers develop new roles or change existing roles significantly.
The New Roles Guide can help you and your managers through the process of developing new roles, or changing existing roles significantly. The Guide contains eight sections that you can use in any order.
Explore any of the sections by clicking on the tabs on the left.
Planning for new roles is necessary to identify the long and short-term factors required for successful development. The planning process should include:
When the service needs have been identified, it is necessary to think about the type of role development required. You may find it helpful to consider the following questions:
It is also important that an assessment of the impact of the proposed role development on the workforce is carried out. This will help identify issues such as: capacity of the workforce to support this role development; impact on other roles and workforce issues, including skill mix and the time frame available to develop the required competencies or create a new role.
Leadership at all levels is essential when developing new roles, to ensure successful implementation. At a strategic level leadership is required to:
At an operational level, leadership is required to steer the role development process towards successful implementation. The main issues for you to consider include:
Competence is developed in a variety of ways and it is important to remember that individuals have different learning styles. When considering the development of competence for a new role you may find it helpful to consider: the competencies you need to develop to do your job well; how you plan to meet your learning and development needs; how you will record evidence of your continuous professional development.
Where new roles cross professional boundaries, you need to assess carefully your learning needs and competence and consider your professional supervision requirements.
Public protection is very important when developing new roles. When considering professional accountability, you may find it helpful to think about:
If you intend to continue practicing as a nurse, midwife or SCPHN, then your new role should be developed in line with The Code: Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses and Midwives (NMC, 2015). Some role developments may require registrants to practice beyond traditional boundaries. If this is the case, you need to give careful consideration to the way your practice will be regulated and the potential need for indemnity insurance to ensure that the public are protected.
Patient and client safety must be of paramount importance when developing new roles. You may find it helpful, therefore, to think about the following points:
New roles should be evaluated to show how they meet the service objectives they were developed for. When thinking about evaluation, you may find it helpful to consider the following points:
When considering evaluating a new role, it may be best to invite an outside person to carry out the evaluation to ensure objectivity and credibility.
When assessing the need for new roles, you may find the following questions helpful:
The term 'driving forces' refers to the pressures on the service that require solutions that ensuring safe and effective care for patients and clients. Examples of such pressures include:
When the driving forces have been identified, your employer or managers need to state how this service will be provided in the future. The service objectives should be stated in terms of the benefits to patients, clients, and the organisation.
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