Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Facilitating Learning andAssessment in PracticeProject Module for BSc AwardsPost Qualifying Framework

Buddy Pack2007/2008

Level 3/M

Module No: UZURAR-20-3 Module Leader: Sue Davis

2

A Buddy Pack

Thank you for agreeing to be a Buddy to your colleague hoping to become a sign-off mentor. As an experienced sign-off mentor yourself you are able to providesupport and feedback to a peer.

You are requested to complete a learning contract with your colleague to showwhat is expected of yourself as a `Buddy’ and the requirements of the Mentor inthe process of achieving sign-off status.

Your colleague has a workbook of evidence to complete to demonstrate theirknowledge and skills as a sign off mentor. You have a copy of this workbook foryour information.

The NMC (2006) Standards to support learning and assessment in practice as asign off mentor are included in this pack to remind you of your responsibilities andthe expectations and accountability for achieving this role for the mentor.

Learning contract between Buddy and MentorThe contract should demonstrate a commitment between both parties toprovide support and evidence that leads to the assessment of at least 3 signoff mentor activities over a period of time ideally between three and sixmonths maximum.

Evidence of achievement of this contract should be within the Mentor’s activitydiary.

Buddy signature: ………………………………………..

Name (please print): …………………………………… Date: ………………….

Mentor signature: ……………………………………….

Name (please print): …………………………………… Date: …………………..

3

In order to become a sign-off mentor the NMC (2006) Standards, criteria 2.1.3state that the Mentor must have met the stage 2 standards of a mentor and beensupervised on at least three occasions for signing off proficiency at the end of afinal placement; and additionally:

� Has clinical currency and capability in their field of practice.� Is on the local register of mentors� Has a working knowledge of current student programme requirements,

practice assessment strategies and relevant changes in the educationand practice for the students being assessed.

� Understands the NMC registration requirements and the contributionsthey make to meet these requirements.

� Understands their accountability to the NMC to pass or fail the student inmeeting the proficiency requirements at the end of the nursing ormidwifery programme.

As a buddy, your role is to support and directly supervise the mentor on threeoccasions as (s) he performs the sign off role with students in their area ofpractice. You are required to give support and feedback on this process to thementor and to sign their workbook when you feel the standards have been met.

There are review forms in the sign off mentor handbook for you to give the mentorfeedback on their performance and achievements. Please use these forms asoften as you feel necessary to support the mentor. There are further copies of theform on the Practice Support Network at http://hsc.uwe.ac.uk/practicesupport/

If you have anything you wish to discuss or need some support yourself theacademic team on the Facilitating Learning and Assessment in Practice Moduleare there to help. You can contact the following for advice:

Sue Davis: Module Leader susan.davis@uwe.ac.ukChris Stevens christine.stevens@uwe.ac.ukDorenda Mackie dorenda.mackie@uwe.ac.uk

4

DISTANCE LEARNING HANDBOOK

Practice and ProfessionalStandards for

Sign-off Mentor

2007/2008

LEVEL 2/3/M

Susan Davis

5

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 3

Professional Standards 3

Evidencing the Standards 4

Activities Diary 4

Indicative reading 5

Assessment /Submission Dates 8

Appendices

1 Standards for Achievement 9

Feedback from Progress Meeting 15

Assessing in Practice Review Form 16

2 Log sheet 17

Information 19

6

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to PRACTICE AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR SIGN-OFFMENTORS.

This pack has been specifically designed for students seeking to gain “sign-off” status. Itbuilds on learning achieved through undertaking the module: “Facilitating Learning andAssessment in Practice “ modules or previous teaching, assessing and mentorshipmodules.

This pack is based upon independent study and record keeping and plays a central role inhelping students to synthesise learning and professional development and to relate theirpractice to professional standards. You will collect evidence and maintain a portfolio todemonstrate that you have met the Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards for Sign-offMentors (NMC 2006) You will need a “buddy” who will discuss and `sign-off’ theevidence of the three assessed assessments in practice.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

These are Standards set by the NMC (See: Standards to support learning and assessment inpractice, NMC 2006), that have to be achieved in order to gain registration as a mentor.

For midwives undertaking this unit as part of unit 9 Your learning will be furtherenhanced through a workshop which will enable you to explore key aspects of the role of asign-off mentor and you will be allocated an academic tutor to sign-off standards whichare achieved.

The workshops will introduce you to the pack and its content. A progress review meetingwith your buddy will be used to discuss your evidence and to sign-off your standards whenachieved.

7

EVIDENCING THE STANDARDS

Evidence that you have achieved the standards must be produced and `signed-off ’ by yourbuddy . You will be able to collect evidence from a range of sources eg. Mentoringstudents and supporting mentors in practice, assessments that you have undertaken andlearning strategies you may have helped to design and implement. The same evidencemay be used to support more than one standard.

You will be expected to maintain a portfolio that is organised into numbered sections toallow for cross referencing. It should be Understandable to others and allow for additionsto be made.

If you are collecting evidence from the workplace it must be supported with a signaturecertifying in writing that the documentation is authentic. Your allocated buddy must sign-off the three assessments undertaken by you in practice (assessing the assessor).

ALL standards must be ‘signed off’ as achieved for Sign-off Status and must be submittedto an educational lead for registration within the trust.

ACTIVITIES DIARY

You will be expected to keep a log (appendix 2) of your activities and this can includeyour ‘brief’ reflections. The evidence is a record of performance of learning activities inpractice which cannot be represented by other documentation. It is an opportunity toreflect briefly on what you have achieved and how you wish to develop. Entries should bedated.

This pack complies with the Module Specification for:- Facilitating learning and assessment in practiceUZURAR-20-3University of the West of England

8

GUIDELINES FOR READING

You may wish to buy one of the following books on mentoring and assessingrelated to your practice area :-

Jarvis, P. Gibson, S. (1997) The Teacher Practitioner and Mentor, 2nd Ed. Nelson Thornes:Cheltenham.

Kenworthy, N. Nicklin, P. (2000) Teaching and Assessing in Nursing Practice: an experientialapproach. 3rd Ed. Bailliere Tindall: Edinburgh.

Quinn, F.M .Hughes SJ (2007) Quinn’s Principles and Practice of Nurse Education.5th Ed. Nelson Thornes:Cheltenham.

The following resources are available free on the Internet, and are essentialreading for this module:-

DOH, ENB (2001) Placements in focus - guidance for education in practice for health careprofessions. Access via http://www.nmc-uk.org/aArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1695

DOH, ENB (2001) Preparation of Mentors and Teachers: A new framework of guidance.Access via http://www.nmc-uk.org/aArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1695

NMC (2006) Standards to support learning and assessment in practice: NMC Standards formentors, practice teachers and teachers. Access viahttp://www.nmc-uk.org/aArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1658

There are also copies of some key articles and book chapters available in the`Digital Collections’ area of the UWE Library website.

In this collection you will find articles and book chapters that relate to facilitatinglearning as well as assessing. To access the “Digital Collections” go to the followingwebsite :

http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/catalogue/hypelogin.htm

Log in with your UWE ID card number and Library PIN.

Note: if you don’t know your Library PIN you can request it to be sent to your UWEemail account from the following website :http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/catalogue/idpin.htm

Once logged in to Digital Collections – Click on “UWE”, Click on “Teaching andlearning support materials”, Click on “HSC Health and Social Care”, scroll down thelist to find the “Teaching and Assessing” folder – click on it, click on the“Recommended reading” to open up the list of chapters / articles. Simply click on theitem you now want to open and read. Note: if you have pop-ups blocked on your PCthen the articles won’t open – see http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/catalogue/popup-

9

info.htm for information on disabling pop-up blockers.

UWE on-line: If you are part of a community on UWE on-line you can alsoaccess the library digital collection material from here.

The journals listed below are available electronically via the Library Catalogueand frequently have relevant articles in them:-

Examples of electronic journals are:Nurse Education TodayAdvances in NursingBritish Medical JournalJournal of Midwifery and Women’s HealthRadiographyNursing Standard.

To access these journals go to the UWE Library Catalogue :http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/catalogue

If there is a yellow box on the right of the screen “I’m from UWE” then click this first andthen click on the green arrow prompt on the next screen.Choose any campus from the list to enter the catalogue.Choose “Journal Title Search” in the box on the right of the screen.Type in the title of the journal that you want to find and click on “Search Catalogue”.

Any journal available electronically will have “Electronic Journal” in brackets after its title.You can access full text articles from these journals on the Internet, simply click “Connect toresource” button to the right of the screen along from the title of the journal - this will take youdirectly to the journal on the Internet. You will need your UWE network username andpassword to log into these electronic journals off campus. Look out for the option to Log-inwith “Athens” – often in the top right corner of the screen.

There is a guide to accessing journal articles available on the Library website at :http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/hea/docs/accessjournals.pdf

The following databases are very useful and allow you to search across a hugerange of journals to locate further relevant reading material for yourself:-

Examples are : (all of these are available via a single website called Ovid)

AMED

British Nursing Index

CINAHL

Embase

Maternity and Infant Care

Medline

10

You can access these health and social care databases by going to the UWE LibraryService website:

http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/hea/databases.htm

Here you can scroll down a selection of databases and access them directly. Each database hasa description page and help materials available (including online tutorials to introduce you tosearching them).

Once into the databases use suggested key words such as:- learning environment, group work, assessing, assessment, clinical supervision to find relevantmaterial.

The Library website has a wealth of support material available to support you in doingliterature searches for articles on the databases, including :

For a step by step guide to searching the Ovid health databases (British Nursing Index etc) see:http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/hea/docs/ovid.pdf

For online tutorials on using library resources and finding information see : (the “FindingJournal Articles” section is particularly useful)http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/otis/index.htm

For tips on putting together an effective search to use on the databases see:http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/hea/docs/Tips_for_effective_searching.pdf

Useful Web sites:

www.dh.gov.uk Department of Health sitewww.open.gov.uk Government site pertaining to all professionswww.dfe.gov.uk Department of Educationwww.qaa.ac.uk Quality Assurance agencywww.nmc-uk.org Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visitors Councilwww.sor.org Society of Radiographerswww.vts.rdn.ac.uk/tutorial/nurse/ Good tutorials for nurses, midwives and health visitors on usthe internet to find information.www.hlsp.org/uk Health and Life Sciences Partnershipwww.csp.org.uk– Physiotherapy

11

ASSESSMENT

This pack does not accrue academic credits unless part of the Facilitating Learning andAssessment in practice module.

If completed as a single registered unit. This will be verified and a certificate ofachievement awarded.

For midwives and nurses commencing the Unit the Portfolio must be submitted by 2pm on one of the following dates:

Commencing Unit Dates Submission Dates

September 2007 = 7th Jan 2008January 2008 = 7th May 2008April 2008 = 7th Aug 2008August 2008 = 7th Dec 2008

For verification and the gaining of a certificate of achievement.

12

APPENDIX 1

STANDARDS ACHIEVEMENT RECORD (NMC STAGE 2 Sign-off Mentor )

Name:

Date begun:

Self appraisal – Status of evidence:Working towards = 1Satisfactory evidence = 2Strong evidence = 3

Use the appropriate columns below to cross reference from your evidence file where the supporting evidence can be found. You will need topresent and discuss this evidence with your tutor during tutorials. Your tutor will sign-off each of the standards when you have satisfactorilyachieved them. You may present `oral’ evidence to demonstrate achievement of up to one third of the standards.

1. Establish effective workingrelationships:

ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

1.1 Demonstrate an understanding of factors thatinfluence how students integrate into practicesettings.

1.2 Provide ongoing and constructive support tofacilitate transition from one learning environment toanother.

1.3 Have effective professional and Interprofessionalworking relationships to support learning for entry tothe register and education at a level beyond initialregistration.

13

2. Facilitation of learning: ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

2.1 Use knowledge of the student’s stage of learningto select appropriate learning opportunities to meetindividual needs.

2.2 Facilitate the selection of appropriate learningstrategies to integrate learning from practice andacademic experiences.

2.3 Support students in critically reflecting upontheir learning experiences in order to enhance futurelearning.

3. Assessment and accountability: ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

3.1 Foster professional growth, personaldevelopment and accountability through support ofstudents in practice.

3.2 Demonstrate a breadth of understanding ofassessment strategies and ability to contribute to thetotal assessment process as a part of the teachingteam.

3.3 Provide constructive feedback to students andassist them in identifying future learning needs andactions , managing failing students so that they mayenhance their performance and capabilities for safeand effective practice or be able to understand theirfailure and the implications of this their future.

3.4 Be accountable for confirming that students have

14

met or not met the NMC competencies in practiceand as a sign-off mentor confirm in practice.

4. Evaluation of learning: ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

4.1 Contribute to evaluation of student learning andassessment experiences , proposing aspects forchange resulting from evaluation.

4.2 Participate in self and peer evaluation tofacilitate personal development and contribute to thedevelopment of others.

5. Creating an environment for learning: ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

5.1 Support students to identify both learning needsand experiences that are appropriate to their level oflearning.

5.2 Use a range of learning experiences , involvingpatients clients, carers and the professional team, tomeet defined learning needs.

5.3 Identify aspects of the clearing environmentwhich can be enhanced negotiating with others tomake appropriate changes.

5.4 Act as a resources to facilitate personal andprofessional.

Context of practice: ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

6.1 Contribute to the development of an environment

15

in which effective practice is fostered, implemented,evaluated and disseminated .

6.2 Set and maintain professional boundaries that aresufficiently flexible for providing Interprofessionalcare.

6.3 Initiate and respond to practice developments toensure safe and effective care is achieved and aneffective learning environment is maintained.

7.0 Evidence-based practice: ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

7.1 Identify and apply research and evidence basedpractice to their area of practice.

7.2 Contribute to strategies to increase or review theevidence base used to support practice.

7.3 Support students in applying an evidence base totheir own practice.

16

8.0 Leadership ProgressMeeting 1

ProgressMeeting 2

ProgressMeeting 3

Signature

8.1 Plan a series of learning experiences that willmeet students defined learning needs.

8.2 Be an advocate for students to support themaccessing learning opportunities that meet theirindividual needs , involving a range of otherprofessionals patients, clients and carers.

8.3 Prioritise work to accommodate support ofstudents within their practice roles.

8.4 Provide feedback about the effectiveness oflearning and assessment in practice.

17

SIGN-OFF MENTOR

9. Sign-off criteria. Progress reviewmeeting1

Progress reviewmeeting 2

Progress reviewmeeting 3

Signature

Knowledge of current programme requirements.

Knowledge of NMC registration requirements.

Clinical currency and capability.

Able to access proficiency requirements.

Been supervised on three occasion for signing offproficiency by a sign-off mentor or practice teacher.

I confirm all the criteria for a sign-off mentor has been met: Signature of Learner: ………………………………………………............

I confirm all the criteria for a sign-off mentor has been met: Signature of Buddy: …………………………………………………………

Name (please print): ………………………………………………………….

I confirm all the criteria for a sign-off mentor has been met: Signature of Tutor: ………………………………………………………….

Name (please print): …………………………………………………………...

18

FEEDBACK FROM PROGRESS MEETING

Feedback from progress review 1 Action Plan

Feedback from progress review 2 Action Plan

Feedback from progress review 3 Action Plan

19

ASSESSING IN PRACTICE REVIEW FORM (you will require 3 of these)

STUDENT Name :

Date: Topic: Reviewer:

Topic area CommentsPreparation and planningAims and Learning outcomes.EnvironmentInterpersonal skills

Assessment criteria relevant

Assessment methods/strategy used :Appropriate to topic and learner/sTiming and progression

ProcessRelevant to topicQuestioning appropriateEvidenced basedFeedback givenLeadership

Any other comments

Signature of Buddy: …………………………………………………… Buddy name (please print): …………………………………….

Signature of Learner: …………………………………………………

20

Appendix 2

LOG SHEET: RECORD OF TEACHING AND ASSESSING EXPERIENCE

Date andTime

Experience Comments Signature Signature of sign-off mentor orpractice teacher

21

LOG SHEET: RECORD OF TEACHING AND ASSESSING EXPERIENCE - (cont’d)

Date andTime

Experience Comments Signature Signature of sign-off mentor orpractice teacher

22

INFORMATION

If you wish to know more about the content of a module/short course, then pleaseaccess our web pages at:-

www.uwe.ac.uk/hsc

or

http:learntech.uwe.ac.uk/modules

Alternatively please contact our CPD office who will be happy to send you therelevant information.

HSC.CPD@uwe.ac.uk

Post Basic Admissions - Celia Maber 0117 32 81161Enrolment Office - 0117 32 81164

NB: Web addresses may change – if experiencing specific difficulties please checkthe Faculty’s home page.

For further information:

Email: Susan.Davis@uwe.ac.ukTel: 0117 32 88639