The who and where of clinical skills teaching: A review from the UK perspective

Over the years, the debate on clinical skill acquisition in Nursing is one that has been subject to constant scrutiny within educational settings, locally and globally. Indeed, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have endeavoured to provide some clarity with the publication of the Essential Skills Cluster statements [NMC, 2006. Advance Information Regarding Essential Skill Clusters for Preregistration Nursing Programmes (NMC Circular 35/2006). NMC, London] and the recently updated Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice [NMC, 2008. Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice: NMC Standards for Mentors, Practice Teachers and Teachers, second ed. NMC, London]. In this paper, we seek to provide a review of the evidence and debate produced thus far surrounding skills acquisition in general and the role of the nurse lecturer in particular from a UK perspective.