Overview

This module forms part of the compulsory requirements for the Doctorate in Pharmacy Part 1 and the Diploma/MSc in Advanced Professional Practice (Pharmacy).

It is also available as a free-standing course and may be suitable for other health professionals working at an advanced level of practice. It can be studied as a 15 or 30 credit module at Masters level.

The module will enable you to evaluate the different elements, including leadership skills, that are required to build effective working relationships, within and across professional boundaries, and develop your role as an advanced practitioner.

You will build up evidence of your attainment of competency to the level of 'Advanced Stage II' as described in the Advanced Pharmacy Framework (APF) and reflect on this evidence using a structured Reflective Portfolio that forms part of the assessment.

You will also compete a Reflective Essay that requires you to apply your learning to an area of your professional practice/working environment.

The module is delivered principally at a distance using media for open and distance learning. You will participate in on-line group activities with other students and tutors. The 30 credit module requires attendance at Keele for a two day block of study days.

Module aims

The aim of the 15 credit module is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the practice and theory of building working relationships within and across professional boundaries. It will enable you to apply your learning in order to demonstrate the competencies within the ‘Collaborative Working Relationships’ cluster of the ‘Advanced Pharmacy Framework’ (APF) and/or related frameworks if relevant.

By the end of this module you should be able to:

• Evaluate the core skills that are required for effective communication at an interpersonal and organisation level.
• Reflect on your communication style and adapt that style to communicate well with people in a range of different contexts
• Identify the role that culture, power and politics plays when communicating with organisations.
• Appraise the key elements of productive team working.
• Demonstrate that you have developed knowledge and skills relating to understanding and managing conflicts effectively.
• Plan a strategy for networking across boundaries to build relationships and share information, plans and resources.

The aim of the 30 credit module is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the practice and theory of building working relationships within and across professional boundaries. It will enable you to evaluate the different elements, including leadership skills that are required to build effective working relationships, within and across professional boundaries, and develop your role as an advanced practitioner. It will enable you to apply your learning in order to demonstrate the competencies within the ‘Collaborative Working Relationships’ and the ‘Leadership’ and ‘Management’ clusters of the ‘Advanced Pharmacy Framework’ (APF) and/or related frameworks if relevant.

In addition to the learning outcomes for the 15 credit module above, the 30 credits module will enable students to:

• Critically evaluate the current political challenges in health and social care at both a local and national level
• Critically reflect on the key characteristics of an effective leader
• Critically evaluate the role of coaching and mentoring in leadership
• Identify the appropriate leadership style to implement change in your workplace
• Provide evidence of achievement of the relevant APF competency clusters at the level of 'Advanced Stage II'

Entry requirements

Candidates who are studying this module as part of the DPharm or another programmes must meet the entry requirements for these programmes.

The module is available as a stand-alone course for candidates who are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) or equivalent for pharmacists working overseas and who are practising either full-time or part-time. We recommend that the course is particularly suitable for practitioners who have been registered for at least three years, and who are working in a role where they have the opportunity to use and develop advanced practice skills, but this is at the discretion of the Programmer Manager and discussion with individual applicants.

The module is also be suitable for other health professionals, particularly medical and non-medical prescribers who are registered on the APP (Open Learn) programme.

English language proficiency requirement

If English is not your first language, you must either:

Hold a degree from a school where English was the language of instruction

OR

Take the IELTS (average of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in all categories).

Please note that IETLS exams must be no more than two years old at the start of the course for which you have applied.

Module content

The content of the module will be delivered using open and distance learning methods that will include a series of interactive workshops (face to face or on-line) using self assessment inventories, psychometric instruments (MBTI), leadership and team activities to explore key aspects such as:

• Personal communication styles
• Organisational cultures: values, beliefs, rituals and ways of working
• Teams and team working
• Diagnostic tools: SWOT analysis, forcefield analysis, stakeholder analysis, Deal and Kennedy’s cultural analysis, Robins’s cultural analysis, Belbin team type
• Power, influence and conflict
• In addition to the above, the 30 credit module will cover:
• Negotiation, including principled negotiation
• Leadership, including leading in the NHS; coaching and mentoring.

Teaching and assessment

The majority of the learning material will be provided on-line in the module reader, so that you can study where and when is most convenient for you. You will be supported during the module by a Keele tutor. A two day block of study days at Keele supports the 30 credit module.

In addition you are expected to do your own reading as guided by and beyond the reading list that will be provided in the module.

The assessment for the module consists of two parts:

1. An essay in which you must demonstrate that you have applied your learning to your own professional practice/work environment.
2. A reflective portfolio which assesses your ability to relate theory to practice, and self evaluation of, and reflection on, your own performance and CPD needs.