Bournemouth University staff and students, as well as practice partners and service users, attended an event to explore the importance of Value Based Recruitment (VBR) and the role service users can play in recruiting students to NHS courses.
In the morning Clive Matthews, Director of Employer Engagement, provided the welcome address - highlighting the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirement to provide VBR and involve service users in the recruitment process.
Dr Andy Mercer, lecturer for Mental Health Nursing, continued with the importance of recruiting based on values, using Mid Staffordshire Hospital as an example of how core values can affect the quality care provided, as well as the importance of putting the patient at the centre of care.
Dr Vanessa Heaslip and Ashley Spriggs, lecturers in Adult Nursing, presented their research on the evaluation of using service users and carers in the interview selection process for Adult Pre-registration Nursing. They highlighted how service users looked at different qualities, compared to academic staff and practice partners, when assessing the suitability of a student nurse candidate.
Ashley Spriggs said: “The NHS is waking up and listening to what the people who are using the services have to say about the services, and changing them accordingly.”
Dr Vanessa Heaslip added: “There is an expectation by the NMC that our courses involve service users at all levels, including planning and delivery, and this seems to be a nationwide approach.”
The service users themselves then spoke about their experiences of being involved in Adult Nursing student recruitment, such as what they enjoyed and some of the challenges they faced in participating in the recruitment process.
Andrea Addis, a service user, said: “As a representative of service users and carers, I am passionate about value based recruitment and consider it important that health workers have the right skills and also the right values to provide high quality compassionate care.”
Hannah Warring, a service user, added: “It’s being able to say the sort of person we would like to be nurses, and it sends a message [to candidates during the interview] that there is involvement with service users from the word go and this important to their training.”
Before breaking for lunch, students who were involved in the recruitment process discussed how applicants responded to them during interviews and all attendees wished Carolyn Latchford, a service user, a very happy birthday!
The afternoon comprised of a value based recruitment programme update by Clive Matthews; an action plan group activity, facilitated by Professor Janet Scammell; a plenary session; and closing comments by Dr Vanessa Heaslip.
