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Preparation for safeguarding in UK pre-registration graduate nurse education

Julie McGarry, Charley Baker, Claire Wilson, Anne Felton, Anirban Banerjee

The Journal of Adult Protection

ISSN: 1466-8203

Article publication date: 14 December 2015

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Abstract

Purpose

It is now widely acknowledged that health care professionals on the front line of care delivery will often be among the first to whom patients or clients who have experienced abuse will present or disclose abuse in a clinical context. It is therefore of pivotal importance that all health care professionals, including nurses, are adequately prepared at the earliest opportunity to effectively respond to a disclosure of abuse or identify where abuse may be suspected. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to address this contemporary challenge within health care the authors present a model, developed in the UK, for the embedding of safeguarding knowledge, skills and attitudes within undergraduate pre-registration nursing curricula. This model is integrative and focuses on the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the field of safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.

Findings

Student evaluation to date has been extremely positive with the majority of student responses indicating that individuals felt that they had received the requisite level of educational support and knowledge to enable them to recognise concerns. However, it was also clear that students felt that the knowledge gained within the classroom setting needed to be effectively supported and translated in the practice setting.

Practical implications

Safeguarding clearly forms a central part of professional accountability and responsibility. It is therefore pivotal that professionals receive the requisite education, skills and knowledge at the earliest opportunity.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge this initiative is novel in approach and as such has the potential to inform similar education programmes.

Keywords

Citation

McGarry, J., Baker, C., Wilson, C., Felton, A. and Banerjee, A. (2015), "Preparation for safeguarding in UK pre-registration graduate nurse education", The Journal of Adult Protection, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 371-379. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-12-2014-0043

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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