The book presents five significant areas of learning within professional programmes of preparation most applicable to student nurses and midwives in their pre-registration education but also with relevance to other learners on healthcare related disciplines. This volume has emerged from several sources: the editor’s role as a Director for Learning and Teaching in Adult, Child Nursing and Midwifery and also from an EU funded project looking at quality benchmarks and assuring clinical learning environments (HEALINT). The Francis Report (Francis 2013) and the Shape of Caring Report (Willis 2015) highlighted challenges related to practice learning and mark a renewed focus in its overall significance (Morley et al 2017).  In addition to discussions regarding models of support in practice, there is also a clear emphasis on the need for nurses to have the knowledge and skills to undertake more flexible roles and an increasing requirement for nurses to have higher order knowledge andskills at the point of registration, according to the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC 2017). The book will meet these new educational needs especillay for educators working in Nurse and midwife colleges.

The new standards of proficiency for pre-registration nursing were published in 2018, with all higher education institutions (HEIs) approved to deliver the programme from September 2019. This creates a demand for a publication which explores the potential impact of a new education approach and issues with preparation (teaching and learning) for nurses and the breadth and dimensions of teaching and learning. NMC proposed roles of Practice Supervisor, Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor will not have a prescribed preparation programme and universities and practice partners will be seeking guidance and direction in developing local programmes of preparation.