{"id":2540,"date":"2025-07-24T16:19:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T15:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/?page_id=2540"},"modified":"2026-01-09T14:10:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T14:10:30","slug":"deciding-level","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/deciding-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Deciding Level"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <em>Deciding Level<\/em> offers structured, short-term experiential placements (ranging from a few days to 1-2 weeks). These opportunities are designed to expand understanding of the wider NHS Lothian system, support personal career decision-making, and contribute to our strategic aims around staff retention and leadership development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These opportunities may be undertaken as paired experiential learning experience between two individuals or as a single opportunity for one individual in blocks of time or day release or over a longer period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Target Group<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Registered Nurses and Midwives who have been qualified for more than 18 months and have been working in their substantive role for more than 12 months. Non- registered staff who have been in their substantive role for more than 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Criteria for Application<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If registered nurse\/midwife qualified for 18 months<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Substantive post in NHS Lothian, in current role for at least 12 months<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Identified the opportunity as part of annual appraisal\/PDP\/Stay and Grow Conversation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discussion and agreement by line manager <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mandatory and essential learning has been completed&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staff should not be currently undergoing any HR procedure or promoting attendance at work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Staff would be eligible to apply for up to one Deciding Opportunity per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Identifying Deciding Level Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two types of Deciding Level Opportunities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Advertised opportunities \u2013 please review the Deciding Level Opportunity Library<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Opportunities identified by the applicant \u2013 make contact with an individual or department that you would like to shadow\/visit and ask them to complete a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2025\/07\/Experiential-Leadership-Academy-Opportunity-Template-June-2025.docx\">Experiential Leadership Academy Opportunity Template<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to Apply<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check you meet the criteria for application <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discuss with your line manager, including your planned opportunity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If approved, complete the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2025\/08\/Deciding-Application.docx\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"2565\">Deciding Level application form<\/a>, including the objectives you wish to achieve. Obtain signature of line manager.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contact mentor and share application form<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Agree objective, dates and duration of experience<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Confirm with line manager<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Learning Log<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>During your placement you can complete an optional <a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2025\/08\/Experiential-Leadership-Academy-Deciding-learning-Log.docx\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"2567\">Learning Log<\/a>, identifying learning goals and ways to achieve them.  This can be used as evidence of learning for reflection and revalidation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Criteria for Award<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To achieve the Deciding Level award, the staff member must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Have attended the placement for more than 80% of planned duration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meet with mentor and line manager to discuss achievement of objectives and sign off on completion of the placement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Completed the <a href=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Deciding-Reflections-and-Sign-Off-Form-Jan-2026.docx\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"3027\">Deciding Level Reflection form<\/a> and discuss with line manager, including next steps for your development<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Registered completion via Microsoft Form. Follow this <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=veDvEDCgykuAnLXmdF5JmgDZkT-B8OdMpCSDyKEsBxZUMEpaMUlaWUNRQlBXOU45MUY3VEVUQ0pGOCQlQCN0PWcu\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=veDvEDCgykuAnLXmdF5JmgDZkT-B8OdMpCSDyKEsBxZUMEpaMUlaWUNRQlBXOU45MUY3VEVUQ0pGOCQlQCN0PWcu\">link<\/a> or scan QR code below<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An evaluation survey will be issued at a later stage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A certificate of a Deciding Level Award will be issued by the line manager and can be used as evidence of learning and for revalidation purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1890\" height=\"1890\" class=\"wp-image-2976\" style=\"width: 150px\" src=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code.png\" alt=\"Candidate Experience QR Code\" srcset=\"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code.png 1890w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code-1536x1536.png 1536w, https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/123\/2026\/01\/Candidate-Experience-QR-Code-1140x1140.png 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1890px) 100vw, 1890px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Deciding Level offers structured, short-term experiential placements (ranging from a few days to 1-2 weeks). These opportunities are designed to expand understanding of the wider NHS Lothian system, support personal career decision-making, and contribute to our strategic aims around staff retention and leadership development. These opportunities may be undertaken as paired experiential learning experience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/widewidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-2540","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"julietmacarthur","author_link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/author\/julietmacarthur\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"The Deciding Level offers structured, short-term experiential placements (ranging from a few days to 1-2 weeks). These opportunities are designed to expand understanding of the wider NHS Lothian system, support personal career decision-making, and contribute to our strategic aims around staff retention and leadership development. These opportunities may be undertaken as paired experiential learning experience","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2540"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3029,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2540\/revisions\/3029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/nursingandmidwifery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}