The purpose of the ePortfolio (supported) Route is to enable recognition with the Centre for Advancing Practice of:
- existing,
- experienced advanced practitioners,
- regularly working clinically in advanced practitioner roles,
- who have already completed their advanced practice experiential and educational learning1
Advanced Practitioners who have completed their advanced practice educational learning more recently (from 2017 onward) will most likely be able to gain recognition with the Centre for Advancing Practice via the accreditation status of their education provider. Universities can apply for Centre of Advancing Practice Accreditation to recognise their MSc advanced practice programmes.
Completing the ePortfolio (supported) Route is voluntary. However the process for recognition of advanced practitioners has been created by the Centre for Advancing Practice for quality assurance purposes to ensure a consistent approach to the urgent need to recognise on a standardised basis the experience, knowledge, and skills of existing, experienced advanced practitioners in the workforce. The components and processes of the ePortfolio (supported) Route act as an assurance for the Centre that applicants for the Route are experienced advanced practitioners.
There are three main stages comprising completion of the ePortfolio (supported) Route:
- 1. The expression of interest form and subsequent application for providing personal and professional details and confirming eligibility for recognition, such as being an existing advanced practitioner employed in an advanced practice clinical role in an NHS commissioned service (confirmed by line manager or advanced practice lead).
- 2. The initial Learning Needs Analysis (LNA), which provides an overview of the experienced advanced practitioner’s academic, clinical, and experiential knowledge and skills in relation to the four pillars of the Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England. At this initial stage the LNA is not focused on submission of evidence; it just gives an indication of what evidence may prospectively be used to support mapping. The completed LNA is reviewed by a participating education provider in collaboration with the applicant to ascertain if any additional learning is required for them demonstrate mapping against the four pillars, and to check for suitability for progressing to the next stage.
- 3. Subsequent completion of the ePortfolio as a summary of the applicant’s academic, clinical, and experiential knowledge and skills and work as an advanced practitioner. The ePortfolio requires completion of a critical narrative and submission of supporting evidence, accompanied by reflective case studies and reflective analyses. The critical narrative provides a requisite reflective commentary on the ePortfolio drawing all the strands of it together to guide the reviewer easily and effectively through the evidence the applicant is presenting. Please note inclusion of a guiding critical narrative or reflective commentary is a typical feature of the preparation and presentation of all personal professional portfolios.
Summary of the minimum written requirements for completing the portfolio component of the ePortfolio (supported) Route
- Completion of a critical narrative of a minimum 3,500 words to no more than 5000 words
- At least two critical reflective case studies of a minimum 800 words each. Critically reflecting on different presentations / situations demonstrating assessment and management of complexity and unpredictability in relation to the clinical pillar.
- At least two critical reflective accounts of a minimum of 800 words each. Critically reflecting on the other pillars of advanced practice.
- Either the critical narrative, or one of the reflective case studies or reflective accounts should integrate a summary account of a team leadership episode for leadership and management.
The written critical narrative, critical reflective case studies, and critical reflective accounts should be in a level 7 / Master’s style, supported with citations and references.
This is an example breakdown of the usage of the minimum 3,500 words for the critical narrative:
Sections of critical narrative Critical narrative 3,500 words (example breakdown)
- Introduction to portfolio 300
- Clinical Practice 750
- Leadership and Management 750
- Education 750
- Research 750
- Conclusion 200
- References list Not included in word count
Summary of the minimum evidence requirements for completing the portfolio component of ePortfolio (supported) Route
- 2-3 pieces of evidence should support each capability across the four pillars. A single piece of evidence may demonstrate multiple capabilities. It is strongly recommended that a minimum of 4-6 separate pieces of evidence are used for each pillar. This helps to demonstrate a suitable breadth of learning opportunities.
- The Applicants’ Guidance provides details of the specific types of essential evidence required across the pillars. For example leading or involvement in audit activities.
Additional supporting evidence required for completing the portfolio component of ePortfolio (supported) Route
- A record that advanced practice competence / clinical capabilities have been assessed as being met by an appropriate health professional. Normally either an experienced advanced practitioner or an experienced medical doctor2.
- Current advanced practitioner job description.
- Feedback:
- Feedback on advanced practice (x2) from colleagues
- Feedback on advanced practice (x2) from patient/service user or carers (four items of feedback in total).
Footnotes
- before 2017 when Health Education England’s (now NHS England) Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England was published ↩︎
- if an advanced practice course with competence / clinical capabilities assessed via a module / OSCE has previously been completed. This will need to be submitted as evidence ↩︎