Bsc(Hons) Midwifery
September 2014 New Curriculum
Sign-off mentor Handbook
Introduction
The last Bsc(Hons) Midwifery curriculum was approved in 2009 and validated for 5 years. Thus a new midwifery curriculum needed to be validated for
September 2014. Following a detailed development period with contributors from academic and clinical staff, supervisors of midwives, mentors, students and
service users, this new curriculum was validated by the University and the NMC in January 2014. It’s first delivery will be in September 2014.
This handbook has been developed to inform midwifery mentors of the details of the new curriculum and their role in supporting the curriculum during the
students’ placements in clinical practice.
Course aims
The aims of the course are to meet to a high standard the academic requirements as set out by the University for the award of an Honours degree and the
professional requirements as set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. These aims will be will be met through the achievement of the intended learning
outcomes in the domains of knowledge and understanding, and intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skills. .
Course Principles
Knowledge and understanding









Critically analyse the evidence to support decisions made in the provision of midwifery care throughout the childbearing continuum
Evaluate the role of the midwife within the wider multidisciplinary team in providing safe and effective care to women and their families
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the origins and validity of the various forms of knowledge that influence midwifery practice
Recognise the onset of complications that may be experienced by the woman and/or baby during childbearing
Demonstrate effective clinical decision making skills, informed by a critique of the appropriate evidence
Develop a critical understanding of the statutory, professional, cultural, political and socio-economic factors that affect health care policy and the
climate of care provision
Critically analyse the role of the midwife within contemporary maternity care locally, nationally and globally
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of public health in relation to the provision of health care to women and babies
Explore the factors that promote normal birth for women with obstetric complications and/or complex health needs
Intellectual (thinking), practical, affective and transferable skills
•
•
Respond to the changes within the dynamic environment of practice in a measured and constructive way, acting as a catalyst and proposing changes
where appropriate.
Evidence achievement of all practice competencies and skills in preparing for professional practice.
•
•
•
•
•
Critically analyse the importance of research based evidence in caring for women, babies and their families.
Utilise a range of effective communication skills to provide compassionate, individualised and competent care to women and their families
Demonstrate competence in dealing with emergency situations in childbearing, including recognition of the deteriorating woman
Demonstrate commitment to personal and professional growth
Develop appropriate leadership and collaborative skills to achieve safe care for women and their families.
Course philosophy
Birth is a normal physiological process. Women are individuals who maintain their own identity in a wider social, cultural, spiritual and physical environment.
Women are equal, informed and active partners in the planning of care together with their families, and are pivotal to the decision making process that informs
the care they receive. Midwifery is underpinned by the art and science of clinical practice and values different forms of knowledge, used to underpin holistic
midwifery care. The role of the midwife is to be with woman and provide knowledgeable, professional support and companionship, promoting safety and
choice for the woman, her family and baby as part of an inter-professional team.
Our student-centred curriculum values both individual learning styles and life experience. We encourage the development of skilful communication and
reflexivity to enable students to adapt to the challenges of the clinical environment with courage and commitment. The family unit provides the central focus
for integration of research, theory and practice. The Midwifery Team at Anglia Ruskin University, in partnership with our colleagues in local clinical Trusts,
seeks to educate passionate, safe, caring and compassionate midwives who are able to provide safe, competent evidence based, holistic midwifery care, and
are prepared for the challenges of 21st century midwifery practice and lifelong learning (DH 2013, NICE 2012, DH 2010, NHS 2013).
COURSE STRUCTURE
The course is 156 weeks in length, full-time and commences in September each year. 50% of the course will take place in the University and 50% on
placement in clinical practice. The students will met the academic requirements of the course by completing 120 credits worth of modules each year. The year
is split into trimesters with modules running over 1 to 2 trimesters. Blocks of clinical practice will be interspersed through and between modules. The
professional requirements of clinical practice will be assessed during clinical placements through the Practice Assessment Document by the student’s sign-off
mentor.
Trimester Three
Year Two
Fundamentals of
Midwifery
Practice 2
(30 credits)
Breastfeeding
OSCE(Fine graded)
MCQ paper
(including A&P/
Breastfeeding;
Fine graded)
Fundamental
Midwifery Skills
(30 credits)
Practice
competencies
pass/fail
Placement
assessment (Fine
graded )Safe
medicate
(pass/fail at
80%)
Start case-load
4800 word
critique of
research paper
(Fine graded)
Midwifery Care for
the woman and
infant with
complex needs
(30 credits)
2 hr multiple choice
exam (pass/fail) & 3
hr written exam
(fine graded)
Emergency
Midwifery Skills
(30 credits)
OSCE NLS
NLS Pass/fail
Random OSCE (Fine
graded)
Year Three
Promoting Health
& Wellbeing
(30 credits)
Undergraduate
Major Project (30
credits)
Newborn Infant Physical
Examination
(30 credits)
5000 word
essay(Fine graded)
10,000 word
major project
(Fine graded)
NIPE practice document Pass/fail
OSCE (Fine graded)
Developing
professional
midwifery skills
(30 credits)
Practice
competencies/fail
Placement
assessment(Fine
graded)
PROGRESSION POINT
Small Group Presentation (Fine
graded)1800 word reflective
account(pass/fail)
Knowledge,
research and
evidence in
midwifery
practice
(30 credits)
PROGRESSION POINT
Trimester Two
Trimester One
Year One
Fundamentals of Midwifery Practice
1
(30 credits)
Collaborative
professional
working
(30 credits)
Annotated
PowerPoint
(Fine graded)
Advancing
Midwifery
Practice
(30 credits)
Practice
competencies
pass/fail
Placement
assessment
(Fine graded)
Module content
Year 1
Fundamentals of midwifery practice 1 (30 credits)
This module will explore the anatomy and physiology of the major bodily systems and the impact of pregnancy and childbirth on these systems. It will also
give an overview of the provision of maternity care through the birth continuum, including the roles and responsibilities of the midwife in that care provision.
The provision of antenatal and postnatal care will be examined in more depth, with the impact of this care on the woman’s experience critiqued. Students will
learn basic midwifery skills required to assess the well-being of the woman and the fetus/neonate and be introduced to the communication skills required to
support the woman and her family.
The module assessment will be by a reflective account of 1800 words and small group presentations, including a 10 minute question and answer session.
Knowledge, Research and Evidence in Midwifery Practice (30 credits).
In this module students will have the opportunity to appraise concepts of midwifery knowledge used to inform clinical practice. Different forms of knowledge
including: intuitive knowledge, scientific inquiry, traditional knowledge, technical and specialist knowledge will be explored. Students will consider the concept
of evidence informed practice and learn about the different approaches to undertaking research in midwifery. As part of their learning students will develop an
essential understanding of different research methodologies (linked to the nature and purpose of the research), consider data collection methods, different
kinds of analysis and various ways of presenting research findings. In the delivery and assessment students will have the opportunity to critically appraise
examples of existing midwifery research thereby demonstrating their developing understanding of the research process.
Assessment of the learning outcomes will be a summative essay of 4800 words.
Fundamentals of Midwifery Practice 2 (30 credits)
This module will build upon the knowledge acquired in Fundamentals of Midwifery Practice 1 and work in partnership with the Fundamental Skills module to
prepare students to provide evidenced informed care for women and their families through the variations of normal on the birth continuum. Understanding of
basic human anatomy and physiology and normal physiological changes that take place during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium are revisited and
consideration is given to the variations upon normal which are encountered in everyday practice. The physiology of parturition will be examined in depth,
focusing on how the physiology of birth can be maximised to promote normality. Variations in normal birth will also be explored together with ways that may
prevent or reduce those variations moving towards the abnormal spectrum. The provision of intrapartum care and the midwife’s roles and responsibilities in
that provision will be explored. Care in the postnatal period will be expanded on, with particular emphasis upon the care and feeding of the new-born infant,
and the associated evidence. The midwife’s role in supporting women in their infant feeding choices and in providing breast-feeding support will be explored
in depth. The concepts of motherhood and parenthood will be explored and the impact of birth experiences on the adaptation to parenthood examined,
together with ways of enhancing the birth experience and reducing negative birth experiences. The development of communication skills with women, their
families and the multidisciplinary team will continue, including focus on the needs of clients with communication difficulties.
The module will be assessed with an OSCE on breastfeeding practice and a 2 hour Multiple Choice examination paper.
Fundamental Midwifery Skills. (30 credits)
This module has been designed to run in partnership with its sister modules, Fundamental Midwifery Practice 1 and 2. It will enable students to integrate
theory and practice through the development of evidence-based fundamental midwifery skills required to care for women and babies during a physiologically
normal antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum period. The development of midwifery skills that promote normality within childbirth will be a strong focus. The
module will also introduce the student to the normal/abnormal continuum that can occur during the childbearing period. The student will acquire skills to detect
movement along this continuum together with skills that may prevent and/or reduce movement towards the abnormal spectrum. Students will develop
fundamental midwifery skills through skills sessions, VLE resources, guided reflection at their clinical site and clinical practice under the supervision of a signoff mentor. Using these skills under the supervision of a sign-off mentor in clinical practice will develop competency and proficiency.
The module will be assessed through the student completing their Practice Assessment Document and their grading of practice tools in practice. The student
will also need to complete a Safe Medicate package on drug administration at 80% or above.
Year 2
Midwifery Care for Women and Infants with Complex Needs. (30 credits)
This module builds on the students’ knowledge of the normal /abnormal continuum during the childbearing period and of the role of the midwife in the
interdisciplinary team. It will address complexities that arise both as a result of the childbearing process and also those caused by pre-existing medical
conditions. Students will explore the midwives role in providing care for women and infants with complex needs during this period and the importance of
multidisciplinary team working in meeting those needs. The importance of providing evidence based information to facilitate the women to make informed
choices about her care and that of her infant will be examined. How risk impacts on women’s choice and how midwives can minimise this impact and promote
normal birth and positive outcomes for women with complex needs will be examined. The notion of risk and risk assessment will be explored and students will
develop their knowledge of clinical decision making, problem solving and appropriate referral. The concept of iatrogenesis and strategies to minimise
iatrogenesis within maternity care will be investigated.
The assessment for this module will be a 2 hour multiple choice exam (pass/fail) & 3 hour written exam (fine graded).
Promoting Health and Well-being in Midwifery Care (30 credits)
As the midwives of the future it is vital that our students recognise their role in the ‘Health of the Nation’ and in the provision of care that ensures each mother
and child has the best start in life.
The Promoting Health and Wellbeing module will enable students to gain experience, knowledge and understanding of the midwife’s central role within public
health whilst working in collaboration with the diversity represented by women and families of the 21 st century and to recognise the importance of developing
productive working relations with colleagues in both the multidisciplinary team and other health and social care professions. This module links with the
students’ work in clinical placement within women’s and children’s health, to the practice competencies within the second year of the BSc Pre-registration
Midwifery programme and to the Essential Skills Clusters, (ESC) (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2009), building on the ability to communicate effectively in a
variety of settings and circumstances and reinforcing the midwife’s role to promote and support normality as part of the childbearing continuum.
The students will be offered a formative assessment in the form of a poster presentation. This module will be assessed by a 5000 word summative essay.
Emergency Midwifery Skills (30 credits)
The module enables the student to explore emergency, high risk situations that occur during childbearing and the role of the interdisciplinary team in dealing
with such incidents. The module content covers a wide range of situations, which may arise during childbearing including those identified in the triennial
Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Death. Wider issues of risk, consent, scope of practice, communication, inter professional team work and evidence
informed practice is explored in the context of a variety of emergency complications of childbearing. Students will be expected to demonstrate their clinical
decision making skills, appropriate action and effective evidence informed management. This will examine both their ability to plan for different contexts of
care and evaluate their skills in managing an emergency situation.
The assessment will be by two OSCE’s:
•
•
Neonatal resuscitation(pass/fail)
Randomly selected obstetric emergency (fine graded)
Developing Professional Midwifery Skills (30 credits)
This module has been designed to run in partnership with its sister modules, Midwifery Care for the Woman and Infant with Complex Needs and Emergency
Midwifery Skills. This module develops the students’ clinical midwifery, professional and interpersonal skills and prepares the student to provide midwifery
care for women and babies with complex needs whilst also facilitating normality in the care process. Learning primarily takes place within the practice area
with the Midwife Sign-off Mentor supporting the student. This learning is supported by skills sessions within the university.
The assessment for this module is the completion of the Practice Document for year 2 which incorporates evidence to support the student’s progress toward
achievement of the Essential Skills Clusters. This includes learning contracts, skills acquisitions and the grading of practice tools assessed by their sign off
mentor.
Year 3
Newborn Infant Physical Examination (NIPE) (30 credits)
The content of the module will focus upon the specialist knowledge and the clinical skills which are required to enable the student to competently undertake a
thorough examination of the newborn infant. The student will utilise in-depth knowledge and understanding which they have gained to enable them to
recognise the deviations from the normal to initiate appropriate care and referral. The work based environment will provide the student with an opportunity to
undertake clinical examinations of the newborn infant. Reflecting critically upon these examinations will allow students to further identify their learning needs
and develop his/her scope of professional practice. Students are given the opportunity to work in the appropriate clinical environment to undertake the
Newborn and Infant Physical Examination (NIPE) under the supervision of a health professional with the NIPE qualification.
The module is assessed in two parts: The first part is a NIPE Practice Document which provides written evidence of reflective and critical analysis of Newborn
Infant Physical Examinations completed in the clinical/practice area. The NIPE practice document will be given a pass/fail mark. The second part is a fine
graded Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and discussion.
Undergraduate Major Project (30 credits)
The individual Final Project module allows students to engage in a substantial piece of individual research and/or product development work, focused on a
topic relevant to their specific discipline. The topic may be drawn from a variety of sources including: Anglia Ruskin research groups, previous/current work
experience, the company in which they are currently employed, an Anglia Ruskin lecturer suggested topic or a professional subject of their specific interest (if
suitable supervision is available). The project topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an
academic member of staff. The chosen topic will require the student to identify/formulate problems and issues, conduct literature reviews, evaluate
information, investigate and adopt suitable development methodologies, determine solutions, develop hardware, software and/or media artefacts as
appropriate, process data, critically appraise and present their finding using a variety of media. Regular meetings/contact with the project supervisor should
take place, so that the project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. The assessment will normally include a substantial written report.
Collaborative Professional Working (30 credits)
This module is designed for a multi-professional audience who come into contact with the children of those from vulnerable groups, particular covering the
areas of Substance misuse, Mental Health, Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding; this includes both practitioners and students. In the light of the Francis
Report (2013) and others, the rationale of the module is to enhance the student and practitioners’ critical understanding of these subjects and in particular to
understand both the need for and the challenges in providing a collaborative approach to meet clients’ needs in a competent, caring and compassionate
manner (NHS Constitution, DH 2013). Students and practitioners will be required to draw upon their practice experiences to identify and respond
appropriately to cases/scenarios related to the core topics as an effective member of the multidisciplinary team that is focussed upon the effected individual/s.
It will equip them with the knowledge to understand what the law says they and others must do or are expected to do and thus encourage good cross-agency
working (Working together, 2013).
This module will be assessed by an annotated PowerPoint equivalent to 5000 words. Through facilitated discussion with a variety of service providers such
as; the local safeguarding board, social workers, health care workers, mental health teams, the criminal justice system and the voluntary and community
sectors, practitioners and students will gain a broader understanding of one another’s sphere of practice and be able to learn from each other in a
collaborative way.
Advancing Midwifery Practice (30 credits)
One of the key principles that the NHS aspires to is to provide high quality care that is safe, effective and focused on the patient experience; to innovate
practice and improve the current and future health of the population This practice module allows students to develop and build upon their clinical skills and
apply theory learnt over the last 3 years. By the end of the module the students will demonstrate readiness for midwifery practice and the ability to become
professional and motivated practitioners. Students will be exposed to clinical practice, skills sessions, group work and online learning.
Students will review, through the use of the student pledge, how small but significant changes in practice can improve the care given to women and their
families. The students will attend some skills based workshops to facilitate an innovation in practice and explore the effect these changes may have. The NHS
Constitution and the findings from the Francis Report (2013) will be discussed. Innovative approaches to working and how to implement change and provide
evidence based care will be explored. Risk assessment, patient safety and clinical governance will be encompassed. Students will review how the service
improvement will impact on women and their families and how they can communicate the change to a wider audience. Students will critically reflect on the
care seen and use this to inform and improve their practice.
The module will be assessed through the student completing their Practice Assessment Document for year 3 which will include learning contracts, skills
acquisitions, the essential skills clusters, a management assessment, the student pledge and service improvement idea, the grading of practice tools and
the “Final Sign Off” competencies assessed by their sign off mentor. The student will also need to complete a Safe Medicate package on drug administration
at 100%. .
Timetable
Students will have blocks in University interspersed with blocks of clinical placement. University time will consist of lectures, seminars, tutorials, simulated
skills sessions and student managed learning (SML) on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or in assessment preparation. Placements that are being
summatively assessed with the Grading in Practice Tool will last 4-6 weeks. Placements in non-midwifery areas and midwifery placements between academic
years are shorter.
Students will work a 37.5 hours week in clinical practice. 30 hours of this will be working with their mentor on a clinical shift. 7.5 hours a week will be divided
between University hours (when students may go to University for lectures or have student managed learning) or clinical hours when the students will have
guided reflection sessions with their link lecturer, personal reflection time or practice skills sessions. The 7.5 hours of alternatives to clinical shift working each
week will be clearly indicated on the students’ University and Placement timetable.
YEAR
WEEKS OF PLACEMENT
PLACEMENT AREAS
ONE
21 weeks
Midwifery placements
TWO
30 weeks
Midwifery placements
2 weeks Gynae/acute care placement
2 weeks neonatal unit placement
2 weeks non- midwifery placements
3 weeks elective placement.
THREE
24 weeks
Midwifery placements.
PRACTICE ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT.
Students will have a Practice Assessment Document for each year of their course. They are designed to enable the student to demonstrate achievement of
the Standards for Pre-Registration Midwifery Education (NMC 2007) and the Essential Skills Clusters (NMC 2009) which will allow them entry onto the
midwifery part of the NMC register. Students will be allocated a sign-off mentor on every placement to supervise and asses them (NMC 2008). The sign-off
mentor needs to work with the student for at least 40% of their placement and will have overall responsibility for their clinical assessments (NMC 2008).
Practice skills
Each year the students will have a set of practice skills in which they need to be able to demonstrate proficiency. These skills can be signed off by any
midwife who the student works with and who observes their proficiency in the skill.
Essential skills clusters
The Essential Skills clusters (ESC’s) are a set of broad, woman-focused, midwifery skill statements introduced by the NMC (2009). The key purpose of the
ESC’s is to ensure that student midwives are proficient in all standards by the end of their training in order to practice safely and effectively as a midwife
without the need for direct supervision. The ESC’s cover five areas of midwifery practice:





Communication
Initial antenatal assessment
Normal labour and birth
Breastfeeding
Medicine management.
ESC outcomes are assessed at 2 points; at the end of the first year and at the end of the third year. The Essential skills clusters must be signed off by the
student’s sign-off mentor.
Examination of the Newborn Skills (NIPE) Assessments.
Students will be completing the Newborn Initial Physical Examination Course (NIPE) as part of their midwifery course. This will be taken as a module in Year
3, but students need to be preparing for the module throughout their midwifery course and keeping a portfolio of their progress.
In the first year students will need to complete 10 formative Examinations of the Newborn assessments and then do a summative Examination of the
Newborn assessment. These assessments can be done by any sign-off mentor as it covers the elements of the Initial Examination of the Newborn check.
However, the summative assessment needs to be done by a sign-off mentor who has done at least 3 of the student’s formative assessments.
In the second year students will need to complete 10 more advanced Examination of the Newborn assessments followed by a summative assessment.
These assessments need to be done by sign-off mentors who have the NIPE course. 1 formative assessment needs to be done by a paediatrician. The
summative assessment needs to be done by a sign-off mentor who has done at least 3 of the student’s formative assessments.
In the third year students will need to complete 10 full Neonatal Physical Examination (NIPE) formative Assessments.1 formative assessment needs to be
done by a paediatrician. The student’s summative assessment will be done as an OSCE in the University as part of the assessment of the Newborn Infant
Physical Examination Module in Trimester 1
Midwifery Management Practice Assessment
Students will need to complete a management assessment during the third year. This assessment needs to take place on an antenatal or postnatal ward. The
assessment needs to be done by the student’s sin-off mentor. The sign-off mentor needs to have worked with the student at least 3 times before completing
the assessment. The student will need to manage the ward for a shift or part of a shift. This assessment needs to take place in one episode. However
students are advised to do a formative assessment to prepare them for the summative assessment.
PLACEMENT DOCUMENTS
Mentor details
The student’s named sign-off mentor for the placement needs to confirm that she is up-to-date with her mentoring skills and on the Mentor register by
providing the date of their last mentorship update and the month and year of their next triennial review. This is to confirm the validity of the student’s
assessments. If a student is being co-mentored by 2 mentors, then both mentor details are required. If the mentor is a student mentor, or still working towards
becoming a sign-off mentor, or a lapsed sign-off mentor who is gathering evidence to update their mentorship, then they need to be supervised by a sign-off
mentor and the details of the supervising sign-off mentor are also needed.
Orientation to Practice Area
This check-list needs to be done on the students’ first shift. It ensures that the sign-off mentor reviews the student’s previous placement feedback, discusses
their learning contract and inducts them to the placement area.
Learning Contract
The student needs to identify what they would like to achieve on this placement, taking into consideration their feed forward from their previous placement
and what they need to get signed off in their Practice Assessment Document. The student and sign-off mentor need to plan together how this will be
achieved. This discussion should take place within the first week of the placement.
Mid Placement/ interim review
The student and their sign-off mentor need to review progress on the learning contract and Practice Assessment Document half way through the placement.
The sign-off mentor needs to identify any concerns, particularly with meeting the overall descriptors in the Grading in Practice Tool to an acceptable level.
The sign-off mentor needs to give the student feedback on her progress and feed forward on how to improve her performance. If there are concerns the signoff mentor needs to contact the personal tutor/link lecturer and consider the development of an action plan.
Grading in Practice Tool
This is a holistic assessment tool to assess the student’s overall performance during midwifery placements of 4 weeks or more. It is completed by the
student’s sign-off mentor at the end of the placement.
The assessment consists of a grid with 5 overall descriptors that the student needs to achieve on the vertical axis and 9 statements describing the
achievement of each of the overall descriptors on the horizontal axis. The mentor needs to pick which statement best describes the student’s performance of
the overall descriptor. Each statement represents a mark. The marks are added up, giving an overall mark out of 50. This then needs to be doubled to give a
percentage mark.
There is a different grid for each year of the course. Thus the grid identifies what is expected of the student as a first, second and third year student.
The first midwifery placement of each year will be assessed formatively. Thereafter midwifery placements will be assessed summatively and the marks will
contribute to the overall mark of the Fundamental Midwifery Skills Module in year 1, the Developing Midwifery Skills module in year 2 and the Advancing
Midwifery Skills Module in year 3.
The tool follows a traffic light system. Any mark that falls



In the red is unsafe practice so the student will fail the assessment with an overall mark as 0
In the amber column is satisfactory
In the green column indicates good /excellent progress.
Feed forward
At the end of all placements, the student’s mentor needs to fill in the Feed Forward form to inform the student how they could improve their performance in
their next placement. It should be used to inform the student’s next learning contract.
Progression Points and Final Sign-off
The NMC requires that there are progression points within midwifery course, where students have to pass all academic and practice assessments up to that
point before they can proceed onto the next part of the course, or qualify as a midwife.
The NMC state that the decision that the student has achieved the level of proficiency needed in practice to pass a progression point and progress to the next
year is made by a sign-off mentor and that sign-off mentors must make the final assessment of practice to confirm that the required proficiencies for entry to
the register have been achieved.
Progression point 1 and 2
The sign-off mentor on the student’s last midwifery placement in the first year and second year needs to make a judgement of whether the student has
achieved the level of proficiency for that year. They will do this through reviewing the student’s Practice Assessment Document and through their own
observations of the student. The sign-off mentor will need to sign the Progression Point completion form to verify successful completion of the practice
element of the progression point.
Final Progression Point
The NMC requires that a sign-off mentor confirms that the student has successfully completed all the practice requirements of the course before they can
enter onto the register. The student will be allocated a final sign-off mentor in the third year. Ideally the student will have worked with this mentor before but
this is not always possible and therefore is not essential. The final sign-off mentor must work a placement with the student in their 3rd year and must meet
with the student for at least 1 hour per week in their final placement. The final sign-off mentor is responsible and accountable for assessing the student
against the NMC Final Progression Point Standards. The final sign-off mentor will need to sign the declaration to verify that the student has met the
standards in order for the student to pass the progression point.
FURTHER ELEMENTS IN THE PRACTICE ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTS.
Mechanisms for students to escalate causes of concerns
There is a flow chart within the students’ practice document to guide them on how to escalate concerns they may have during their placements. Concerns
may relate to the support they are receiving during their placement, being involved in an accident or untoward incident or if they have any concerns about the
safety of service users.
Mechanisms for mentors to escalate causes of concern
There is a flow chart within the students’ practice document to guide mentors on how to deal with concerns they have about students. This includes any
serious concerns about the student’s conduct, behaviour, clinical performance or attitude. If serious concerns are identified, a “Cause for Concern” form
needs to be completed and forwarded to the Link Lecturer and/or the Lead Midwife for Education. This will then be escalated to the Director of Studies in the
University and the Trust Education Lead.
Action Plans
Students should be receiving ongoing feedback throughout their placements on how they are performing in relation to the skills clusters and Grading of
Practice Tools and feed forward on how to maintain/improve their performance. If the student is not performing to an acceptable level on any of the elements
then these need to be identified and an action plan developed to help the student meet the required standard. The mentor needs to inform the link
lecturer/personal tutor of her concerns and a tripartite meeting is arranged to discuss the issues and develop the action plan.
Student Pledge
Each year students will be required to make a formal pledge that will elp them to make a difference in practice to the care they give to women and their
families. If students have any difficulty in achieving their pledge, they need to discuss it with their mentor and seek some resolution.
Parent Feedback
Students will be required to have feedback from at least one service user per placement. The service user must remain anonymous and their personal details
should not be documented. In view of this, parent’s views need to be gathered by the student’s mentor.