NMC standards for mentors, practice teachers and teachers, 2nd Edition, 2008 (Summary of Content)
Students on NMC approved pre-registration courses must be supported and assessed by mentors.
For students who have commenced their pre-registration courses since September 2007 a sign-off mentor must make the final assessment of practice and confirm to the NMC that the required proficiencies have been achieved.
PRE-REGISTRATION MIDWIFERY
Students on NMC approved pre-registration courses must be supported and assessed by mentors.
Midwives undertaking mentorship programmes will meet the additional criteria to be a sign-off mentor as part of this programme.
A sign-off mentor must make the final assessment of practice and confirm to the NMC that the required competencies have been achieved.
RECOGNITION OF PRIOR ACHIEVEMENT
The NMC does not expect mentors, practice teachers and teachers who have undertaken a preparation programme previously approved by one of the National Boards or, since April 2002, undertaken preparation approved by programme providers, to have to repeat such preparation
RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING
The NMC advises that registrants already holding a mentor or practice teacher qualification map their current qualification and experience against the new standard and meet any outstanding outcomes through continuing professional development
MENTORS ARE RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE FOR:-
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Organising and co-ordinating student learning activities in practice.
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Supervising students in learning situations and providing them with constructive feedback on their achievements.
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Setting and monitoring achievement of realistic learning objectives.
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Assessing total performance – including skills, attitudes and behaviours.
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Providing evidence as required by programme providers of student achievement or lack of achievement.
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Liaising with others (e.g. mentors, sign-off mentors, practice facilitators, practice teachers, personal tutors, programme leaders) to provide feedback, identify any concerns about the students performance and agree actions as appropriate.
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Providing evidence for, or acting as, sign-off mentors with regard to making decisions about achievement of proficiency at the end of a programme.
CRITERIA FOR SUPPORTING LEARNING AND ASSESSING IN PRACTICE
Mentors must be registered on the same part or sub-part of the register as they student they are to assess and for the nurses part of the register to be in the same field of practice (adult, mental health, learning disability, children's)
or be operating under the supervision of a mentor who meets this criteria.
Mentors should have the ability to contribute to the assessment of other professionals, under the supervision of an experienced assessor from that profession, and be able to select and support a range of learning opportunities for students from other professions – supporting learning in an inter-professional environment.
Placement providers have a responsibility for ensuring that an up-to-date local register of current mentors
and practice teachers is held and maintained.
Education providers should use this register to confirm that there are sufficient mentors and practice teachers to support the numbers of students undertaking the NMC approved programmes they offer.
For initial entry on to the register of mentors a registrant must have been registered for at least a year and then to have satisfactorily completed a recognised course of preparation. e.g. 'Preparation for mentorship', 'Teaching and assessing in practice', 'ENB 997/8', 'Clinical teachers certificate', 'NVQ D32/ D33', 'GNC Art of Examining'
Mentors who are designated sign-off mentors must be annotated as such on the register.
All mentors may assess individual competencies but only those who have met additional criteria are entitled to sign-off practice.
SIGN-OFF MENTORS - First Steps
Placement providers will decide in the first instance who may be considered as a sign-off mentor when the standard is introduced and annotate these mentors accordingly. The NMC would expect that such mentors would meet all the following criteria except that of being supervised by an existing sign-off mentor. All midwife mentors will be sign-off mentors.
SIGN-OFF MENTORS - Criteria
In addition to normal mentor criteria, there should be evidence the sign-off mentor:-
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Has clinical currency and capability in the field of practice in which the student is being assessed.
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Has been supervised on at least three occasions for signing off proficiency by an existing sign-off mentor or practice teacher.
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Has a working knowledge of current programme requirements, practice assessment strategies and relevant changes in education and practice.
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Has an understanding of NMC registration requirements.
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Has an in-depth understanding of their accountability to the NMC for their decision to pass or fail a student.
SIGN-OFF MENTORS - Identification
Placement providers must ensure that a registrant designated to sign off proficiency for a particular student meets these criteria and is:-
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Identified on the local register as a sign-off mentor or a practice teacher
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Registered on the same part of the register
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Working in the same field of practice
SIGN-OFF MENTORS - Specialist Function
ONLY sign-off mentors and practice teachers, that are on the same part of the register and in the same field of practice, are entitled to confirm to the NMC that students have met the relevant standards of proficiency for a particular programme leading to a qualification that is registerable or recordable with the NMC.
SPECIALIST PRACTICE PROGRAMMES
Students on NMC approved specialist practice courses, leading to a
recordable qualification on the nurses part of the register, must be supported and assessed by mentors.
A sign-off mentor must make the final assessment of practice and confirm to the NMC that the required competencies have been achieved.
Recordable Qualifications are:-
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Community Practitioner Nurse Prescriber - Nurse Independent Prescriber - Nurse Independent/ Supplementary Prescriber.
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Lecturer/Practice Educator.
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Specialist Practitioner – Adult Nursing / Mental Health / Children's Nursing / Learning Disability Nurse / General Practice Nursing / Community Mental Health Nursing / Community Learning Disabilities Nursing / Community Children's Nursing / District Nursing.
SPECIALIST COMMUNITY PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
Students on NMC approved courses leading to registration on the specialist community public health nurses part of the register must be supported and assessed by practice teachers.
The practice teacher must make the final assessment of practice and confirm to the NMC that the required proficiencies have been achieved.
All Practice Teachers will have met the additional criteria to be a sign-off mentor as part of their preparation.
Registerable Qualifications are:-
Specialist Community Public Health Nurses
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RHV – Health Visiting
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RSN – School Nursing
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ROH – Occupational Health Nursing
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RFHN – Family Health Nursing
Implementation Requirements
This standard replaced the 2004 'Standards for the preparation of teachers of nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses' in September 2007
Registrants who started teacher preparation programmes prior to September 2007 were permitted to complete that preparation meeting the outcomes of the 2004 standard.
New entrants to mentor, practice teacher or teacher preparation programmes since 1st September 2007 must meet the requirements of 'Standards to support learning and assessment in practice'
Programme providers who wished to, were permitted to use the new standards in mentor, practice teacher and teacher preparation programmes from September 2006
Allocated time for mentoring
The NMC recognises that mentors are employed primarily to provide care for patients/clients.
Mentors will use their professional judgement and local/national policy to determine where activities may be safely delegated to students and the level of supervision they will require.
They will need time to be able to explain, question assess and provide meaningful feedback.
Mentors should not normally support more than three students, from any discipline, at any point in time.
Whilst giving direct care in the practice setting at least 40% of the students time must be spent being supervised (directly or indirectly) by a mentor/practice teacher
In a final placement, sign-off mentors should be allocated 1 hour per student per week to reflect, give feedback and keep records of student performance. This will be in addition to the 40% of the students time under the supervision of a mentor.
Continuing Professional Development for mentors
The NMC requires all qualified mentors to maintain and develop their knowledge skills and competence as a mentor through annual updating to ensure:-
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current knowledge of NMC approved programmes.
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knowledge of the implications of changes to NMC requirements.
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discussion of issues related to mentoring, assessment of competence and fitness for practice.
Practice Teachers
The NMC practice teacher standard is mandatory for supporting learning and assessing registrants studying for registration as a specialist community public health nurse.
Continuing Professional Development for Practice Teachers
The NMC requires all practice teachers to maintain and develop their knowledge, skills and competence through annual updating.
Additionally they would need to maintain and develop their extended knowledge and skills gained for practice in a specialist area.
The NMC requires placement providers to maintain a record of current practice teachers and, where appropriate - in partnership with local education providers, to make provisions for annual updating of these registrants.
Practice Teacher activity
Practice teachers will use their professional judgement and local/national policy to determine where activities may be safely delegated to students and the level of supervision required. They are accountable for such decisions.
Allocated time for Practice Teacher activity
The NMC recognises that registrants who are practice teachers are primarily employed to provide care for patients and clients.
Students gaining registration as a specialist community public health nurse are required to undertake a period of practice during which they would normally work on a one-to-one basis with their practice teacher.
Practice teachers should support only one SCPHN student at any point in time
Practice teachers must keep sufficient records to support and justify their decisions on whether a student is or is not competent/proficient.
Practice teachers will need time, when undertaking work with a student, to be able to explain, question, assess performance and provide feedback to the student in a meaningful way.
Practice teachers must have time allocated to reflect, give feedback and keep records of student achievement in the final period of practice learning. This will be the equivalent of an hour per student per week.
Triennial review
Placement providers must ensure that each mentor and practice teacher is reviewed every three years and that only those who continue to meet mentor/practice teacher requirements remain on the local register.
Mentors must have supervised at least two students (extenuating circumstances permitting) within the preceding three years
Practice teachers must have supervised at least one student.
N.B. This is not a specification of the expected maximum numbers of students to be mentored by an individual registrant.
Mentors and Practice teachers will have participated in annual updating – including
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an opportunity to meet and explore assessment and supervision issues with other mentors or practice teachers
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exploring, as a group activity, the validity and reliability of judgements made when assessing practice in challenging circumstances.
Mentors and practice teachers will have mapped ongoing development in their role against the current NMC mentor/practice teacher standards.
At triennial review the NMC expect that mentors/practice teachers will be able to produce evidence of having met these requirements.
Supporting students who have a disability
NMC approved courses are open to all applicants able to meet the defined selection criteria
Programme providers will have made decisions related to any disability when undertaking selection processes.
The NMC advises that all mentors, practice teachers and teachers receive disability equality training.
Thank you for taking the time to look through this summary of the content of "Standards to support learning and assessment in practice". You are reminded that this is a summary of content only and does not reflect the individual strategies that Trusts and others will adopt in order to implement its requirements and recommendations. For information of this nature please refer to your managers or education/training department. The full text of the standard can be found on the Nursing and Midwifery Council website – www.nmc-uk.org.uk