Transferring psychological therapy education into practice: a complex systems analysis

<p>IntroductionThis paper reports on a national study exploring thetransfer of education to practice. A competence basedprogramme of education in Cognitive BehaviourTherapy to treat patients with Depression and Anxietywas delivered to a cohort of health professionals whobecame participants in this study. This study reports onthe challenges and enablers that play a role in thetransfer of education in healthcare practice.MethodsA qualitative study design was developed to explore theviews of nurse therapists on the enablers and barriers intransferring new knowledge and skills to their practice.The cohort of individuals enrolled on a new educationprogramme consisted of 64 nurses and other therapists.In order to explore the complex issues face to faceinterviews with 18 individuals were conducted andreported through thematic analysis.ResultsA number of themes emerged which provided theopportunity to examine the complexity and challenge ofhealthcare workers making use of new skills andknowledge in dynamic work environments. The themesidentified a number of enablers and barriers to effectivetransfer in challenging and complex nursingenvironments.Discussion and conclusionThe role of supervision was viewed as having a criticalfunction in supporting nurse therapists’ transfer theiruniversity based newly developed skills to clinicalpractice. The practice environment was viewed a highlycomplex field which contained a number of barriers toeffective educational transfer. Supervision of practiceemerged as a major theme but variation in its deliveryinhibited fidelity to learning transfer over time.</p>