As the RCN King’s nursing cadet programme approaches it’s 7 year anniversary, we are really excited to have revamped our programme to make it more accessible to young people across the UK and update our approach based on feedback from cadets and stakeholders.

Whats new?

For phase one we have refreshed our programme content and introduced a tiered approach to the learning. We have listened to our stakeholder’s feedback and have removed the workbook, reduced the PowerPoints and introduced greater interactivity, where taking part is the method of assessment.

Each tier will build on the previous, allowing young people greater control of their exit point. We anticipate each tier to be a 10 hour commitment split into theoretical content, practical exercises and work experience.

Final touches are being applied to new lesson plans, facilitator notes and worksheets ready for the roll out in our new programme package.

How will it work?

Our changes to the delivery model mean that the first tier will not require numbers of participants to be capped as it can be delivered by youth partners online, face to face, in a block or weekly. It offers much more flexibility.

The second tier of the new programme will look more like our previous offer. It will be available to cohorts of up to 20 and co-delivered by youth partners and the RCN cadet team face to face. Cadets at this stage are then interviewed for RCN managed work experience or signposted to relevant work experience opportunities.

What’s in Phase two?

Phase 2 will entail digital enrolment and onboarding for young people, reducing paperwork for everyone,as well as an opportunity for a solo electronic journey through tier one using our online learning platform.

What’s in Phase three?

Phase 3 will allow youth partners access to the online learning platform to online resources to support local delivery. This phase will also include a route for solo journey learners to complete the first tier online and the second tier in person with the RCN cadet team.

When I think back to my first week in the job, I don’t think I’d have imagined that almost seven years later we would have achieved so much. This new look and feel programme will allow us to engage with more young people, make great use of technology and the solo journey will ensure an inclusivity we haven’t been able to achieve previously. Our team is very much looking forward to the new programme.