Resources for ESNs
NICE guidelines and quality standards
NICE guidelines – NICE have produced guidelines on ‘The epilepsies: the diagnosis and management of the epilepsies in adults and children in primary and secondary care’
The guidelines are helpful to nurses to provide an evidence base to inform good practice.
NICE quality standards – The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have produced 2 ‘quality standards’; 1 for adults with epilepsy and 1 for children and young people with epilepsy. The epilepsy quality standards are designed to describe high quality treatment and improve the quality of life for people with epilepsy. They are made up of 9 quality statements about the type of services people with epilepsy should receive. Each quality statement can be measured to assess whether the quality standards are being met.
Epilepsy specialist nurse competency frameworks
The epilepsy specialist nurse competencies set out the professional knowledge and skills needed to become an epilepsy specialist nurse working with adults, children and young people and people with learning disabilities with epilepsy. The competencies can be helpful to nurses new to epilepsy and those practicing at competent and expert levels.
Nurses applying for ESN roles may have many of the essential management, teaching, education and research skills to enable them to work at a specialist level but they may lack specific epilepsy knowledge. Some nurses may begin the ESN role at a novice specialist level in some aspects of the ESN competency frameworks. However it is recommended that they should be practising at competent or expert specialist level in other areas. Managers and nurses can use the competencies to:
- Develop job descriptions
- Create training plans
- Assess training needs
- Appraise performance
- Document practice for revalidation
Competency framework downloads
Professional portfolio
Epilepsy Action has produced guidance for ESNs within the Professional portfolio. This includes templates to help with the ESN competencies such as competency evidence forms
Download templates used in the portfolio
Documents referenced in the portfolio
Forms to help you evidence your competencies:
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