title: Returning to health visiting practice: completing the circle.
abstract: One strategic health authority, NHS London, initiated a pilot return to health visiting/nursing practice scheme in London in 2010. This paper reports on the experiences of the first three cohorts of returnees on the City University London programme, one of the London programmes, and the adaptations that have been made to the programme to help provide returnees with the theory base and practice experience to equip them to work in today's health visiting. Written evaluation forms were completed by the returnees and information gathered from their application forms. This information was supplemented for Cohort 1 with some interviews with practice teachers and lecturers and a mid-stage questionnaire to the returnees. Of the 54 students in the three cohorts over half were still on one or both Nursing and Midwifery Council registers, which had not been anticipated at the start of the programme and led to modifications to the programme after Cohort 1 with an increase in the health visiting specific content. The returnees had a wide range of experience to bring back to health visiting reflecting the fact that a large number had been out of health visiting for more than 11 years. The evaluation shows that providing support by the university to the practice placement areas; ensuring that the taught element is current and useful to health visiting practice and having a relevant but not too onerous assessment process are critical.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, City University London.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anto-Awuakye
authors.forename: Rosamund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bryar
authors.forename: Seema G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Trivedi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000193:education*; D004518:Education, Professional, Retraining / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D000078329:Workforce