An evaluation of the role of the Assistant Practitioner in critical care

To determine whether the Assistant Practitioner role has fulfilled the expectations of the original implementation plan which was to introduce this new role into the Critical Care Department of a large NHS Trust. This service evaluation will examine the introduction of Assistant Practitioners by establishing the perceptions of this new role and the impact of this change from key groups of staff, within the Critical Care Department.

The Department of Health (DoH) recognized the potential of assistant practitioners in a range of care settings. As a participant in this DoH initiative the Trust introduced the role into a number of areas. This service evaluation was undertaken following the training of small cohorts of Assistant Practitioners within the Critical Care Department.

A literature review was conducted initially searching the key words assistant practitioner, role development and critical care. A service evaluation was undertaken using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews for data collection. The data was analysed using a thematic approach.

The responses from the various staff groups revealed a number of key themes including patient care skills, role, preparation and training, drug administration and patient allocation.

Overall, the data suggests that the Assistant Practitioner role has fulfilled the expectations of the original implementation plan as they deliver care to patients in the clinical environment as required. However, the data also reveals that there are still issues to be resolved.

The study has shown the Assistant Practitioners to be excellent in delivering patient care; however, there are limitations due to the complexity of the patient group in critical care areas.