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.nmc-uk.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 1Induction & 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 1Placement 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

• ScenarioBecky 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.

QHow do you think this has been managed before?

QHow would you manage this situation?

Additional Activity 2 -Attitudes & behaviours

Interpersonal Skills Profile

Additional Activity 2-How would you write the formative action plan?

• Examples of Action plans for achieving and under-achieving 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/mentorswww.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