Evaluation of the use of a skillsacquisition manual within the common foundation programme for pre-registration nursing

A skills acquisition manual had been developed for use in the common foundation programme. This article describes an evaluative study of the use of this manual by two cohorts within the pre-registration programme. Information was gained by analysis of the skills acquisition manual and interviewing a sample of participants from both the student cohorts, clinical staff and lecturers involved with the programme. Findings identify a number of issues of interest and demonstrate that the range of clinical opportunities within the common foundation programme enable students to achieve a wide range of transferable skills within a programme that reflects all aspects of nursing.