NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio Accessible Word Version
Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio
Getting Started…
‘using ePortfolio to evidence your mentoring activity for
annual updating and triennial review requirements.’
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio Accessible Word Version
The NM CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio
The Nursing and Midwifery (NM) ePortfolio is available to all nurses and midwives in Scotland
including those in the public, voluntary and independent sectors.
The NM ePortfolio is an electronic portfolio that provides an easy way to generate, gather and
store information throughout your professional career.
You can have access to a number of different sections as part of the NM ePortfolio. For
example:

NandM Nurse or Midwife Career-long section
And/or

NM CPD Mentor section

NM Student Mentor section - if you used ePortfolio as part of your mentor preparation
programme
This guide will help you to get started using the CPD Mentor section to generate, gather and
store information about your mentoring activity, annual updating and triennial reviews. You can
then use this information as evidence towards:

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) mentor requirements, including maintenance
on your local mentor register.

Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) (Department of Health 2004) development
reviews for NHS mentors.
Or

Appraisals using the Continuous Learning Framework (Scottish Social Services Council
2008) where appropriate, for mentors working in care homes and other health and social
care settings.
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How to get a NM CPD Mentor Section or Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio account
In the first instance, please contact your local Practice Education Facilitator (PEF) or Care Home
Education Facilitator (CHEF) to see if they are able to give you access to the CPD Mentor
section.
If you don’t have access to a PEF/CHEF or your local PEF/CHEF does not provide this locally,
please email eportfolio.nm@nes.scot.nhs.uk providing your name, email address,
profession(s), where you currently work in Scotland e.g. the name of the NHS Board or care
home and state that you are a mentor.
All nurses and midwives who request the CPD Mentor section will be automatically allocated the
Career-long section within one month of receiving their NM ePortfolio account.
“Once I got started it all just seemed to fall into place and make sense. I realised that logging my
activities would provide evidence of work done with my student and would facilitate claiming
mentorship competencies, NMC requirements for annual updating and triennial review. The links
between the activities, the mentor competencies and the KSF core dimensions became
apparent. I look forward to the next step of linking ePortfolio, the KSF core dimensions and my
Personal Professional Development. More and more in our chosen career we are expected to
provide evidence of our “lifelong learning”. Having the majority of your evidence stored
electronically in one place will be a great benefit”.
Catriona Brown, Mentor
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
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How to access the NM CPD Mentor Section of your Nursing and
Midwifery ePortfolio
Once you have received your NM ePortfolio account username and password you are ready to
go!
Access the internet from any computer and go to:
www.nhseportfolios.org
Enter your username and password and click on ‘Log In’. You will be prompted to change your
password the first time you log in.
You will automatically be logged in to the role selected at the last log out. You can access the
NM CPD Mentor section by selecting the role from the top tab.
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section
The following four areas are good places to start to help you to generate, organise and store
evidence of your mentorship activity.
These four areas are:

Profile
You can use this to manage your personal details and upload useful information to your
personal library e.g. an information sheet or certificate from a mentor update.

Forms
You can access a range of forms to gather and organise your mentor evidence e.g.
reflective account, record of mentor meeting and mentor log forms. This area can also
support you to gather feedback from others, be used towards evidence of your mentoring
activity and to inform your future CPD as a mentor.

Personal Development Plan (PDP)
You can add mentor PDP activities to help you plan how you will meet your CPD needs
as a mentor and the NMC mentor requirements.

Competencies
This area allows you to demonstrate and link your evidence to the NMC mentor
competencies.
The next section of this guide provides practical examples of how you can use the CPD Mentor
section to evidence your mentoring activity, annual updating and NMC triennial review
requirements.
You can also access a detailed CPD Mentor User Guide within the ‘Support and Resources’
area of your NM ePortfolio.
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
The NMC requires all qualified mentors to maintain and develop their knowledge, skills and
competence as a mentor through regular updating (NMC 2008:30). There are many different
ways that you can use your CPD Mentor section to record ongoing evidence of your mentoring
activities.
How can I record evidence of my mentoring activities?
The Mentor Log Form is a good place to start as it provides a quick and easy way to record
your ongoing mentoring activities over a period of time.
You can access the Mentor Log Form, by selecting ‘Forms’ then ‘Mentor Log Form’ and ‘Add
New Log’, which will provide you with a Mentor Activity Form.
Using this form, you can record the different types of mentoring activities that you may have
undertaken. For example you may choose to record the number of students that you have
mentored, the date that you attended a mentor support forum or completion of a mentor elearning module.
You can then use your completed Mentor Log Forms to demonstrate evidence of annual
updating and mentoring activity towards the NMC triennial review requirements.
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
How can I record more detailed information about specific mentoring
activities that I have undertaken?
The ‘Forms’ area provides a number of different templates to help you to record your mentoring
activities in an easy and structured way.
For example you could use:

The ‘Record of Mentor Meeting’ form to record key learning points following attendance
at a face to face PEF or CHEF led mentor update or discussion with your team regarding
a students’ progress.

The ‘Assessment Judgements’ form to record the decisions that you made when raising
a cause for concern or having a reflective conversation with a student regarding their
learning opportunities and the subsequent actions that you then took to support the
student.

The ‘Reflective Account’ form to describe your role in an educational audit, the positive
outcomes and any aspects that could be improved or to reflect upon providing feedback
to a student.
You can access the different form templates by selecting ‘Forms’ then ‘Summary Overview’.
It is important that you anonymise or exclude any person identifiable information
(colleagues, students and patients/service users) as part of your evidence within the
sections of your NM ePortfolio. Further information can be found in the ‘Support and
Resources’ area of your CPD Mentor section.
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
How can I use the evidence of my mentoring activities to demonstrate
maintenance of the NMC Mentor Competencies?
When you save your completed evidence form, you will automatically be given the option to link
your form with other information within your CPD Mentor section e.g. a file in your personal
library, a competency or another evidence item.
By selecting ‘Link With A Competency’ you can link the evidence that you are saving with the
relevant NMC mentor competency.
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio Accessible Word Version
Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
For example, you could complete a reflective account relating to your experience of mentoring a
student; describing how you identified the students learning needs, facilitated learning
opportunities and made assessment decisions. In this case, you could then link your reflective
account to demonstrate achievement of the relevant facilitation of learning, assessment and
accountability and evaluation of learning NMC mentor competencies.
Linking your evidence as you record it will support you to demonstrate your maintenance of the
NMC mentor competencies. This may also help you to identify any NMC mentor competencies
that you need to focus on developing further in preparation for your NMC triennial review.
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
I am preparing for my annual KSF/PDP review, how can I use the information
within my CPD Mentor Section as evidence towards my KSF?
When you link your evidence to the relevant NMC mentor competencies, the information icon
identifies the KSF core dimensions mapped to that competency.
For example, the NMC mentor competency to, ‘have effective professional and interprofessional
working relationships to support learning for entry to the register’ (NMC 2008:20) is linked to the
KSF core dimensions of communication, personal and people development and equality and
diversity.
These useful links support you to use evidence of your mentoring activities to demonstrate
achievement towards both your NMC triennial and KSF review requirements.
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
ePortfolio Accessible Word Version
Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To record evidence of annual
updating activities
How can I use the information within my CPD Mentor Section to demonstrate
that I have met the NMC annual update requirements?
Within the ‘Forms - Summary Overview’ area you can access an ‘Annual Updating Form’.
Completion of this form will enable you to self declare that you have met the requirements for
annual updating.
When completing this form, it may be helpful to refer back to your ‘Mentor Log Forms’ and your
other evidence to identify the specific dates that support the achievement of the criteria.
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To prepare for your NMC
triennial review requirements
As part of your ongoing development as a mentor, you must be reviewed every three years
(triennial review) to ensure that you continue to meet the NMC mentor requirements to remain
on the local mentor register (NMC 2008:12).
How can I use the information within my CPD Mentor Section to demonstrate
that I have met the NMC triennial review requirements to stay on the local
mentor register?
Recording evidence of your mentoring activities throughout the three years e.g. using the
evidence forms, the mentor log, and ensuring that your evidence is mapped to the NMC mentor
competencies, will support you to demonstrate achievement of the NMC triennial review
requirements.
You can then complete the ‘Triennial Review Form’ to confirm to your reviewer that you have
evidence for all the NMC triennial review requirements.
You can access the Triennial Review Form by selecting ‘Forms – Summary Overview’.
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NHS Education for Scotland Using the CPD Mentor Section of the Nursing and Midwifery
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To prepare for your NMC
triennial review requirements
The triennial review form can also be completed by your reviewer using the ‘feedback from
others’ function to verify that a triennial review has taken place and that you meet the NMC
requirements for maintenance on the mentor register.
You can do this by going to the ‘Forms’ area, selecting ‘Ticket requests’ then ‘Request New
Feedback’ and selecting the ‘Triennial Review Form’. You will then be prompted through the
process of sending the triennial review form to your reviewer.
At my triennial review my manager and I agreed some action points to
support my development as a mentor. Can I keep a record of these agreed
actions within my CPD Mentor Section?
You can use the Personal Development Plan (PDP) to record how you plan to undertake
mentor activities to support your CPD as a mentor and meet the NMC mentor requirements.
For NHS mentors this may be helpful in support of KSF core dimension; personal and people
development.
For mentors who are using the Scottish Social Services Council (2008) Continuous Learning
Framework, this may support personal capability - lifelong learning.
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Using your NM CPD Mentor Section: To evidence your progression
towards Sign-off Mentor Status
Nursing and midwifery mentors working towards sign-off mentor status must meet the NMC
sign-off criteria including having been supervised on at least three occasions for signing-off.
The first and second supervision of sign-off can now be undertaken using a range of methods
e.g. simulation or e-learning: The third supervision of sign-off must be with an actual student
undertaking an NMC approved programme (NMC 2010).
One of the agreed actions from my triennial review was that I would work
towards sign-off status. I am aware that I will have to complete the required
supervised sign offs, where can I record evidence of my sign-off
assessments within my CPD Mentor Section?
Within the ‘Forms - Summary Overview’ area, there are forms to record your supervision of the
first and second sign-off and third sign-off criteria with verification from your sign-off mentor.
You may also want to record evidence of your learning as a student sign-off mentor using the
range of evidence forms.
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Help and Support
The ‘Support and Resources’ area of your CPD Mentor section will provide you with further
information including a detailed user guide, frequently asked questions and access to useful
mentor CPD documents e.g. ‘Guidance for nursing and midwifery mentors using ePortfolio and
eKSF’.
If you or your team would like any additional support or information please contact your local
Practice Education Facilitator or Care Home Education Facilitator.
Security and Data Protection
There are strict protocols which restrict access to data, and security is a key priority for the NHS
Education for Scotland (NES) ePortfolio team.
Patient identifiable information must never be held on the NM ePortfolio. You must anonymise
or omit any other person identifiable information e.g. student details.
Further information relating to access rights, security and data protection can be found within the
‘Support and Resources’ area of your CPD Mentor section.
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Career-long Section of the NM ePortfolio
As nurses and midwives, we may have CV’s, job applications or CPD records in different places.
Using the Career-long section of your NM ePortfolio you can have everything stored in one place
and access it whenever you want throughout your professional career.
The main areas of the Career-long section include:

Personal and Professional Profile

Personal Library

Evidence Forms

Career Development Plan (CDP)
While you can use the information stored in this section for your own personal CPD records, it
will be really helpful to support your appraisal and development reviews, preparation for job
applications and career development opportunities. It will also provide evidence to maintain your
NMC professional registration.
For further information please contact your local Practice Educator, Practice Education
Facilitator or Care Home Education Facilitator. Alternatively, you can visit:
http://ow.ly/h7yj5
It’s a great tool. It’s innovative, it’s intuitive and it’s what nurses and midwives have been asking
for.
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Further NHS Education for Scotland resources
Effective Practitioner is a web based resource which practitioners can access throughout their
careers. Effective Practitioner:

makes it easy for you to keep up to date

saves you time by directing you to helpful learning resources

helps you to provide evidence for KSF, PDP and fulfilling requirements to maintain
professional registration
Visit: www.effectivepractitioner.nes.scot.nhs.uk
The Post Registration Career Development Framework is a useful resource to help:

guide your professional development moving from newly qualified novice practice,
towards experienced, expert practice

continue to develop within your current level of practice
Visit: www.careerframework.nes.scot.nhs.uk
Many other learning resources can also be found at:
www.nes.scot.nhs.uk
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References
Department of Health (2004) The NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (NHS KSF) and the
Development Review Process. Department of Health.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) Standards to support learning and assessment in practice
2nd Ed. Nursing and Midwifery Council. London.
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2010) Sign-off mentor criteria NMC circular 05/2010. Nursing
and Midwifery Council.
The Scottish Social Services Council (2008) The Framework for Continuous Learning in Social
Services. The Scottish Social Services Council/ Institute for Research and Innovation in Social
Services. Dundee.
“The mentor ePortfolio is one of the easiest IT based systems I have used. It has a
comprehensive layout and is simple to navigate. I particularly like the “link” option for NMC
mentor competencies – it is clear and gives good direction about how to use it. Being able to use
the Mentor ePortfolio to evidence KSF is great – what time it will save in the long run. I am
looking forward to being able to use the career-long ePortfolio to store and link my evidence to
demonstrate my professional development”.
Jo McAulay, Mentor
©
NHS Education for Scotland 2013. You can copy or reproduce the information in this
document for use within NHSScotland and for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of
this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of NES.
Published by NHS Education for Scotland November 2013
NESD0199 I Designed and typeset by the NES Design Service
NHS Education for Scotland
Westport 102
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Edinburgh
EH3 9DN
www.nes.scot.nhs.uk
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