The Nursing and Midwifery Careers Section is on the left side of the Model diagram.
This section includes 4 key components:
- Career Pathways
- Levels and Pillars of Practice
- Role Frameworks (add link to this – it sits in the Career Pathways section)
- Service Specific Clinical Pathways and Frameworks
More information on how the 4 key components in this section interlink, is presented in the diagram and boxes below:
3 CAREER PATHWAYS
Three core career pathways to develop the nursing and midwifery workforces : Clinical Practice, Education & Research and Operational Management. The three pathways offer diverse career options that are interlinked to empower staff to consider their career journey. The model is structured yet adaptable, enabling movement between career options whilst guiding learning and development for professional advancement. The model aims to promote a professional fulfilment and a highly skilled workforce to enhance patient care and treatment outcomes.
LEVELS & PILLARS OF PRACTICE
Outline the expectations of roles at Levels of Practice 2–9 for nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers. The levels are structured around four interconnected Pillars of Practice comprising competency of knowledge, skills and behaviours: Clinical Practice, Education & Learning, Leadership and Research & Development. This will enable a standardised approach to the role design and delivery across service provision and support delivery of safe and effective person centred care.
ROLE FRAMEWORKS
There are a range of roles (aligned to the levels of practice) along each of the three career pathways. A Role Framework for defined roles at each level of practice outlines: summary profiles, competencies/proficiencies (knowledge, skills and behaviours) and is supplemented with a learning and development framework.
The Frameworks for Advanced Practice, Consultant Nurse and Consultant Midwife Roles and Specialist Nursing Roles all fit within the Clinical Career Pathway.
SERVICE SPECIFIC CLINICAL PATHWAYS & FRAMEWORKS
Specific clinical career pathways within a chosen field. This outlines additional competencies (knowledge, skills and behaviours) for roles (at each level of practice) within a specific clinical area /service and builds on the core frameworks. This approach facilitates career progression, workforce planning and design within a field of practice/service area. Examples include:
District Nursing (2022); Cancer Nursing (2025): Critical Care Nursing (2025); Perioperative Nursing (2025); Neurology Nursing (under development) and Stroke Nursing (under development) (hyperlink all when available).
You may also find our Model Summary diagram helpful to explain how all the key components of the Career and Development Model interlink.
