Assessors & Supervisors
This explains the new roles for supporting students in practice to meet NMC standards.
All NMC registrants are required to support students’ and colleagues’ learning to help them develop their professional competence and confidence. These are Practice Supervisors: NMC CODE
Current level 2 mentors are required to self-declare against the NMC standards to become a Practice Assessor.
The NMC code is embedded throughout the new standards: prioritise people, practice effectively, preserve safety and promote professionalism.
Each student is assigned a practice supervisor and practice assessor (these cannot be the same person for the same student), and an academic assessor from their higher education Institute (HEI). These have replaced the previously known “mentor”.
Your role is to coach, mentor and support the student in placement. To identify student’s learning needs at the beginning of each shift and set realistic goals to achieve. Collecting and documenting evidence of the student’s performance and providing verbal / written formative feedback to the learner and to the practice assessor.
As a supervisor:
You are required to self-declare against the NMC standards.
Return completed form to your Local Training Hub. Keep a copy for your revalidation records.
The below handbook is for registered nurses who wish to develop their knowledge and confidence to ensure an effective learning environment for students in a Primary Care learning setting. Completion will also support revalidation.
Your role is to collect evidence from practice supervisors; have sufficient opportunities to observe the learner; to record a summative assessment and confirm the learner’s achievement for the placement, agreeing progression with the academic assessor.
To become an assessor:
You are required to self-declare against the NMC standards.
Return your completed form to your Local Training Hub. Keep a copy for your revalidation records.
The below handbook is for registered nurses who have been mentors and may have previously undertaken mentorship training, but this isn’t essential:
- The ENB998
- NMC Mentorship and Assessing modules
and wish to refresh their knowledge to ensure up to date information with regards to an effective learning environment for students in a Primary Care learning setting.
It is for practice supervisors who feel they have the experience and competence to progress to practice assessor.
Each year the student will be allocated an academic assessor from the University. They are available for support if required, for the student, practice supervisors and practice assessors. An agreement between the academic assessor and practice assessor is necessary for student progression.
All students must have access to a nominated person to actively support them and address concerns. There is no stipulation on qualifications or registration of this individual, only that they must be available as a point of contact for students, supervisors and assessors.
Further information can be accessed from the Practice Assessment Record and Evaluation platform Online PARE or via email at [email protected]
What are the changes?
Stage 2 mentorship qualification is no longer necessary so long as
- NMC registration
- Up to date revalidation
- Relevant CPD
- Professional and competent in their own learning environment.
No requirement for annual mentorship updates or triennial reviews.
Online updates available via online PARE.
No requirement for a minimum of 40 % mentor-student contact time.
The sign–off mentor will cease to exist in its current form.
What remains the same?
Students are supernumerary and have protected time depending on their programme.
Induction, learning contracts, mid- point assessment, action plans and summative assessment continue.
Students receive continuous feedback to inform their progress.
Your local Training Hub is your support for developing and growing an effective learning environment. To contact your local Training Hub, visit here.
Practices that welcome students into their environments are provided with a weekly financial incentive. This payment is made as close as possible to the completion of the placement period. The monies earned from accommodating students can be used to fund workforce upskilling through CPD.
All professional qualification / registrant student placements come with a tariff, including:
- Pre-Reg
- Medical
- Non-Medical
- TNA
Learning Environment Facilitators (LEFs)
OVERVIEW
The Learning Environment Facilitator Role was created in line with the need for multi-disciplinary learning environments in primary and community care. By supporting the facilitation of learning environments across Primary Care Networks, this will allow a greater understanding of the current learner opportunities and potential to develop new placements.
There is capacity for one PCN Learning Environment Facilitator for each PCN in Cheshire and Merseyside, who will capture the current learner opportunities and work with the PCN and practices to identify potential new placements. These facilitators will be supported by their Local Training Hub who will provide resources and guidance. The LEF role is administrative, however alternative approaches are supported.
FUNDING
Currently, £3500 is offered to support 20 hours per month (based on AFC pay band 4 or equivalent) as initiated in March 2021.
ROLE DESCRIPTION
LEFs are in place to gather an understanding of the existing learning environment opportunities across the whole PCN by practice, and to develop working relationships with mentors/supervisors and trainers.
This includes:
- Monitoring student placement uptake and capacity
- Reporting placement utilisation and capacity to the Training Hub
- Laison with HEIs / further educational institutes and Training Hub about placements
- Gathering feedback from learners and educators about the placement experience
- Maintain a record of educators training requirements
LEFs are invited to bi-monthly meetings with their local training hub to discuss progress and identify any areas they may require support within their role.
Some PCNs may wish for their Learning Environment Facilitators to be responsible for student timetabling across the PCN, and supporting the practices with existing workforce education plans and training opportunities. Other potential for LEFs may include:
- Coordination of PCN education programme with wider group training
- Oversight of the financial claims and reimbursements for all learners
- Coordination of training opportunities for external learners
Overall, the LEF role is key to supporting education needs for both learners and current workforce in growing to meet service demands.
Case Studies: Sharing Our Success
As a way of sharing our successes, we want to share feedback we received following a student placement in East Cheshire. This feedback is from their first student nurse – a 3rd year transitional placement student from Chester. She wanted to begin her career in A&E in September until she undertook a primary care placement. She has changed her mind, been interviewed, and secured her first job within the PCN starting in September.
STUDENT NURSE FEEDBACK FORM
Which year of study are you within?
| 3 |
Did you get the opportunity to attend other departments during your placement? If yes, please give details
| I was given the opportunity to rotate around several different areas within the medical centre. Spending time with the doctors and pharmacists within ****, practice nurses, Phlebotomy, Health visitors, district nurses both in the community and in leg ulcer clinic, physicians associates, social prescribing, ageing well clinics, pulmonary rehab at the hospital, ultrasound and ear clinics |
Overall, out of 10 (10 being the highest) how would you score your placement – Please give details of why you scored as you have.
| 10 – I would score higher if I could. Many opportunities to meet all proficiencies required, great organisational skills and fantastic people who are so supportive |
What did you enjoy most about your placement?
| There is nothing bad to say about my time on this placement. It has been amazing! I have been given so many opportunities to learn and meet all my proficiencies needed. Time has been set aside to complete my PAD so that has eased a lot of pressure. I have been respected and supported so well by every member of staff I have had the pleasure of working with, I have been made to feel a member of the team for the 14 weeks I have attended placement, I loved the fact that not once was I referred to as ‘the student’ but always been referred to by name. The organisational skills have been brilliant, being given a timetable was great and also being able to speak to the PCN if I felt I wasn’t learning in a certain area they were so amenable and would make changes. I found all staff approachable and have been listened to and have become so much more knowledgeable since being on this placement. There are so many different opportunities to explore and so much learning to be made! I have enjoyed my placement so much that I have applied for and been offered a job as practice nurse which I have accepted and I cannot wait to continue to be a member of the team. Thankyou to all involved in this placement! |
Any other comments
| Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou! Best placement ever – and I will see you in September when I start at **** |
After only recently opening their learning environment to student nurses and being a pilot site for the Universal Learning Environment (ULE) audit, student feedback has been very positive, so much so, primary care is being chosen as the career destination upon qualifying, over secondary care.
Experience gained in Audiology, Phlebotomy, District Nursing, and alongside Physician Associates and Pharmacy Technicians, has provided an eye-opening array of services within a primary care network, in addition to that of the general practice nursing role.
Overall, the PCN rotational student nurse placement, has offered a wide variety of experience, within a supportive and inclusive environment. Simultaneously supporting other student nurses and learners on this rotational basis has made for a sense of belonging within the group of learners. Further impacted by the role of the Learning Environment Facilitator (LEF), who has meticulously coordinated the timetable, and been a point of contact for the student nurse in addition to the clinical and academic personnel. Establishing the Clinical Educational Lead has been instrumental in undertaking and succeeding with the ULE and collectively, this approach has had a beneficial effect for both students and the GPN workforce.
Observing and interacting with many departments encompassed within the PCN has demonstrated the holistic approach implemented to provide care for patients. It has provided an insight to the growing service provision within general practice and an interest to join this workforce as a qualified nurse.
Through working with the Training Hub (TH) to fulfil the requirements of the ULE, and receiving regular support and communication via the LEF links with the TH, the PCN has enabled their nursing staff to upskill as part of the process. Student nurse tariff (which equates to £700+ for one 6 week placement) can further provide funding to enable staff development.
The value of student nurses in practice –
background
Recruiting to healthcare posts is becoming increasingly difficult, and this is particularly true of the Practice Nurse role – a bespoke role involving post registration training support and experience. The shortage of experienced Practice Nurses nationally adds a further hurdle to overcome for General Practice. Vacancies more often than not will request experience as a Practice Nurse as an essential criteria. Yet how do nurses gain this experience? The Training Hub is often contacted by students and qualified nurses wanting to enter Primary Care, yet at a loss of how to “break in” to the role.
This case study follow the journey of one 3rd Year Student Nurse and of a Practice trying to recruit a trained Practice Nurse. It hopes to demonstrate how new ways of training and recruiting can be valuable for both General Practices and for individual nurses who wish to embark on a career in Practice Nursing, and how the Training Hub can help to support this.
Meet Kate…
Kate approached Liverpool Training Hub at the start of her 3rd year of training as she wanted to experience her final management placement (12 weeks) in Primary Care. Kate says “From the start, practice nursing had always been my dream. I love chronic, long term illnesses and I’m passionate about being proactive with patient care, wanting to help and support people to avoid or manage their condition. I was also really passionate about providing health promotion and the benefits of screening programmes to aid in the prevention of illnesses. In addition, the autonomy of practice nursing and career opportunities to specialise in a particular field and work towards advanced nursing skills such as prescribing really appealed to me.”
We were able to informally offer a placement pending approval from her University. Before Kate started her placement in April 2022, she already had an offer of a job upon qualifying in the District.
Which departments did you have the opportunity to shadow? Which ones did you find most beneficial?
- If I was honest seeing ALL departments and having the variety was really helpful while on placement, to get a good understanding of how primary care works and KMP. Coming from all hospital based placements this was really valuable.
- Personally, I have enjoyed seeing the clinics and expanding my knowledge on dressings, and chronic disease management and manual assessment techniques (manual BP).
- I enjoyed spending time in the coil clinic, social prescriber and with the physician associate also.
- Having a timetable was BRILLIANT having structure and organisation was really great and really helped me focus while on placement.
Did you visit an external location within your placement? (Community Hospital/Care Home) If so, please comment on your experience:
- I managed to spend some time with the district nurses, again was really good to have one placement that allowed me to see other departments and see how services link together between primary care and community.
- Ward Round with GP in a care home, again good experience to see how the whole primary care system works and relating this to a nursing role.
What occupation are you currently training for?
Nurse
Overall, out of 10 (0- lowest, 10 – highest) how would you rate your student placement experience?
9
What did you enjoy most during your placement?
- Having a timetable and structure enabled me to plan what proficiencies needed to be signed off and what I wanted to see within primary care.
- Having the variety of departments within primary care (and some community).
- Witnessing the communication and teamwork between departments and staff within the practice.
- Learning, the management of chronic diseases within primary care.
What part of your placement needs improvement?
- Potentially may be better to shadow in the final few weeks of placement one nurse so that the time is intense together in order to get documentation signed off, and to understand level of skills and where can be improved and developed in the remainder of placement.
Any other comments?
- I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on this placement it has been the most interactive and educational, to date. The teamworking between departments is really nice to see and to see everyone has been welcoming and really engaged and tried to help me while on placement.
Induction
The Virtual Induction to General Practice has been produced to help support a wide range of learners that we support from work experience to medical students. The document has many embedded document and videos which offers the learners insight into how a general practice operates and also the career opportunities that are offered (and much more information).
We hope that this virtual induction will help those who are interested find all the information they may need to take a work experience placement within the General Practice environment, and for those who have chosen to study or work within primary care, there are many additional resources to further your learning and career.