Changing Practice Together
- Nurses
- Practice development leads
- Educators
Changing practice together
AI changes how care is delivered, recorded and experienced. Regulation, policies and training are all needed, but on their own they do not change how a team works. Practice development offers nursing an established way to introduce AI so that care stays person-centred, safe and effective.
This section gives teams practical activities they can run together, in practice, before and after an AI tool is introduced.
What is practice development?
Practice development is a continuous process for developing person-centred and effective workplace cultures. It is systematic, it is supported by skilled facilitation, and its outcomes include changes in the values, beliefs and behaviours of the people involved (Garbett and McCormack, 2002; Manley, Wilson and Øye, 2021).
Its core methods include:
- Values clarification: agreeing what matters before deciding what to do
- Critical reflection and supervision: learning in and from everyday practice
- Skilled facilitation: change led with teams, not done to them
- Attention to workplace culture: the conditions that make speaking up, learning and safe care possible (Manley et al., 2011)
- Collaborative evaluation: the people affected shape what is evaluated and how
The Person-centred Practice Framework (McCance and McCormack, 2021) describes the outcomes these methods aim for.
Why it matters for AI
In September 2026, the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare published 44 recommendations for a future regulatory framework. It called for organisational readiness, a culture of learning and reporting, transparency with patients, equity across all population groups, and human oversight. Each of these depends on how teams think, learn and work together.
| What the Commission asks for | How practice development helps |
|---|---|
| Organisational readiness for AI | Teams explore their culture and readiness, not only their governance |
| A culture of reporting and learning | Psychologically safe, learning-focused teams |
| Professionals who use judgement and challenge outputs | Reflection and supervision that strengthen judgement |
| Equity for all population groups | Asking routinely whose voice is heard and recorded |
| A shared definition of high-quality AI-enabled care | Person-centred outcomes, defined with the people who use services |
Activities in this section
Together, these activities make a complete first session for a team preparing for, or already using, an AI tool such as an AI scribe.
- Values clarification for AI: agree what the team wants AI to achieve for the people it cares for (about 45 minutes)
- Claims, concerns and issues: surface hopes, fears and questions before a tool arrives, and decide what needs resolving (about 45 minutes)
- Person-centred checks for AI-drafted notes: check that AI-drafted records still hold the person (10 to 15 minutes per review)
Ground rules for every activity
These activities are for learning and development. Nothing produced in a session should be used to monitor, rank or discipline staff. Safeguarding and patient safety concerns are still acted on, through the usual routes.
- Involve the people you care for. Where you can, include service users, families and carers, not only staff.
- Follow local policy. Use only AI tools approved by your organisation, and never use patient-identifiable information in activities.
- Work in every setting. The activities apply in hospital, community, mental health, learning disability and children's services.
- Facilitate, don't instruct. A practice educator, practice development lead or experienced colleague can facilitate; the team owns the outcome.
Further reading
- Foundation of Nursing Studies (FoNS): Creating Caring Cultures and the International Practice Development Journal
- AI scribes on placement
References
- Garbett, R. and McCormack, B. (2002) A concept analysis of practice development. NT Research, 7(2), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/136140960200700203
- Manley, K., Sanders, K., Cardiff, S. and Webster, J. (2011) Effective workplace culture: the attributes, enabling factors and consequences of a new concept. International Practice Development Journal, 1(2), article 1. https://www.fons.org/library/journal/volume1-issue2/article1/
- Manley, K., Wilson, V. and Øye, C. (eds) (2021) International Practice Development in Health and Social Care. 2nd edn. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
- McCance, T. and McCormack, B. (2021) The Person-centred Practice Framework. In McCormack, B. et al. (eds) Fundamentals of Person-centred Healthcare Practice. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, chapter 3.
- National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare (2026) Recommendations for a Future Regulatory Framework. London: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.