Annual Mentor Update
Please complete the NMC
Mentorship Update Quiz!
Quiz answers
Question 1:
2300 hours of Practice Placements
• This is the MINIMUM number of practice placement
hours the NMC expects nursing students to undertake
• An accurate record of attendance must be maintained on
student-held timesheet and in the practice placement’s
off-duty or rota
• Accurate time worked not including: breaks, absence
and leave – which must all be clearly indicated
Question 2:
Due Regard
Placement must be overseen by a “live” mentor with “due
regard”
Who can assess a student nurse in practice?:
Y1: any registered professional
Y2: only registered nurses (from any field of nursing)
Y3: only registered nurses from same part of the register
and field of practice as the student (due regard)
Question 3:
Essential Skills Clusters (ESCs)
1. Care, compassion
and communication
2. Organisational
aspects of care
3. Nutrition and fluid
management
4. Infection prevention
and control
5. Medicines
management
Try mapping your
induction packs to these…
http://standards.nmcuk.org/Documents/annexe3_
%20eScs_16092010.pdf
Question 4:
Sign-off mentors for Nursing
• Works with student for a minimum of one hour per week
on the student’s final placement;
• Is familiar with student’s programme of study;
• Makes the final decision on whether a student meets the
required standard to enter the NMC register;
• Will scrutinise evidence from student, colleagues and
previous mentors (YOU!) to help inform their decision
Question 5:
Regulatory Standards
NMC regulations are directly influenced by EU Directives,
specifically in relation to:
• Length of time spent in placement
• Knowledge of the “nursing sciences” and the
relationship between health and environment
• Knowledge of the “nature and ethics” of the profession
• Clinical experiences under supervision
• Experiences of working with other professions
Question 6:
Placement experiences
The NMC require pre-registration programmes to promote
practice experiences to link with “the service user’s
journey”…
…What do you think this means?
Question 7:
Due process of assessment
1. Induction to welcome student to setting
2. The initial meeting to formulate learning contracts and
action plans
3. Continuous assessment of core professional values
4. The mid-point formative assessment to monitor
progress, revise contract or set action plan if necessary
5. Seeking feedback from colleagues and service users
6. The end-of-placement summative assessment to
assess student against set criteria
Activities
• Core Activities:1. Induction & the clinical learning environment
2. Quality Assurance, mentor pledge
• Additional Activities:1. Placement Management
2. Attitudes and Behaviours
3. Failing to Fail
4. Supporting students to speak up
Core Activity 1
Induction & the clinical learning environment
Core Activity 2 - Quality Assurance of the
Practice Learning Environment
NMC requirement: Mentors, link lecturers must ensure that the
safety and well-being of service users is not compromised by the
actions or omissions of nursing students.
The HEI and Placement Providers work together to assure the quality
of the student practice learning experience through the process of:
• Audits
• Practice Education Committees
• Student/Mentor Evaluations
• Moderation of Practice Assessment
• External reviews from CQC, Monitor, QIPF, Professional Body,
NHSLA
Core Activity 2 – The mentor’s pledge
• In light of what has been discussed today, identify one
action that you will take forward that will contribute to the
quality of the learning environment of your placement
and the student practice learning experience
• Document this action as your first response on the
mentor evaluation form.
Additional Activity 1
Placement Management
You will be aware of your requirement as a mentor to supervise your
student 40% of their time.
Q How many hours does this equate per week?
Q What is your understanding of direct and indirect
supervision? – Give examples.
Q What informs your choice of supervision? – Consider what
resources are available to you
Q As a mentor what strategies can you implement to manage
your time effectively?
Additional Activity 2 Attitudes & behaviours
• Scenario
Becky is a 3rd year student. She is very outgoing and confident when
interacting with service users and relatives. On two occasions a
colleague witnessed her giving inaccurate information to a relative.
She has previously not had any issues with passing of cluster skills but
her timekeeping and lateness has been documented along with
adherence with Trust/Organisation Uniform policy. She is regularly
late back from break, she returns smelling strongly of cigarettes, her
boyfriend Jack, frequently rings her on her mobile phone.
Q How do you think this has been managed before?
Q How would you manage this situation?
Additional Activity 2 Attitudes & behaviours
Interpersonal Skills Profile
Additional Activity 2How would you write the formative action plan?
• Examples of Action plans for achieving and underachieving students can be found on the mentor
portal
• www.anglia.ac.uk/mentors
Additional Activity 3 – Failing to Fail
You are mentoring a 2nd Year student and have identified concerns within the
first 2 weeks regarding understanding of medicines. An action plan was written
by you and the link team and regular meetings held with the student to review
progress. At the formative assessment (s)he had progressed but there were
still some areas for improvement which were added to the action plan. It was
documented that (s)he needed to achieve these in order to pass the placement.
Summative assessment is now due and you still have some reservations
around the student’s level of knowledge.
Would you?
 Ask for opinions of colleagues before carrying out the assessment.
 Give the student the benefit of the doubt as (s)he has been passed in
previous placements.
 Pass the student but inform him/her that further work is needed around
these areas
 Follow the assessment process and fail the student in the area of concern
giving detailed feedback as to why.
Additional Activity 4 - Supporting
Students to Speak up
• ‘‘Student Nurses, other healthcare professional students, and
trainees can help spread good practice because they move around
frequently. The group of students I met told me that the need to pass
each placement can constrain their ability to speak up: there were
disturbing, but consistent accounts of students with previously good
records who suddenly found themselves criticised, if not failed, after
they raised a concern. We also heard of students being sent to
placements despite reports by previous about bullying behaviour,
variable support by universities and petty victimisation (being given
all the worst jobs) after raising a concern. The fear of referral for
fitness for practice appears to be a further deterrent”.
• Freedom to Speak up – Review of Whistleblowing in the NHS 2015
Sir Robert Francis
Additional Activity 4 - Supporting your
student to speak up
Scenario One
• Your student approaches you rather sheepishly and asks
if (s)he can tell you something in confidence. (S)he tells
you that on two occasions when a patient rang and
asked for assistance to go to the toilet the healthcare
support worker answering the bell told the patient they
were too busy that they had a pad on so do it in the pad,
not to ring the bell again and that they would clean them
up later.
• What would you do?
Additional Activity 4 - Supporting your
student to speak up
Scenario Two
• You are working with your student after (s)he had spent
2 shifts working with another registered nurse. (S)he tells
you about Mrs Jones, a patient with dementia who was
hitting and shouting at people who required a sedative
injection. (S)he was concerned as every time the patient
started to shout out the nurse gave her another injection
‘to calm her down’. At lunch time the nurse told your
student “to leave the food on the side and not wake the
patient up as she would start shouting again”.
• What would you do?
On line information
• To support this presentation please access
the links below for the information and
guidance included in this presentation
www.anglia.ac.uk/mentors
www.essex.ac.uk/hhs/placements/default.aspx
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING AND FOR YOUR
CONTINUED SUPPORT OF OUR STUDENTS
Please hand in your mentor evaluations to the
session facilitator