Community care policy and carer legislation requires that nurses support carers of clients in the community. As far as we know no training programme exists for nurses in order for them to provide such support. As a result, the development team set out to develop and evaluate what we believe is the first programme in the UK to provide professional training in carer support.

The training module was developed as an optional module within the Bachelor of Nursing programme. A further module "Working collaboratively with carers" was developed and validated as an optional module within the MSc, Health and Social Care programme. This will enable progression of study of the topic area from BN to Masters level within the School of Nursing, University of Dundee.

The module develops the nurse's awareness of the issues surrounding the carers' situations within a framework of professional practice and carer legislation. A model of carer support is provided. This model incorporates a practical assessment and intervention model.

Nurses will be taught how to assess carers' situations, and through direct access to carers' lived experiences, develop a range of strategies to enable carers to meet their own support care needs.