Mentorship and Support for Professional Practice

Programme title:	Mentorship and Support for Professional Practice
Apply:	direct to the University via the NHS Business Unit
Start (pt):	September/ February/ June
Mode:	part-time
Duration:	1 semester
Location:	Luton campus and Partner Institutions
Faculty:	Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

Summary

This unit has been developed to enable those health and social care professionals who support students of all types in practice to develop their mentoring, assessment and supervision skills.

The effective support of students undertaking pre-registration courses in the various health and social care disciplines is essential to help them achieve integration of theory and practice. The Department of Health and professional bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) emphasise the need to develop programmes of study that specifically address the nature of learning in practice. This unit facilitates within qualified practitioners an enhanced understanding of the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to contribute constructively to the support of pre-registration health and social care students.
It brings together three key elements within the role of a mentor: student support and supervision; practice assessment, and the facilitation of learning.

The main feature of this unit is that it is work led. The focus is on the students own experience within the work base. Students attending the unit therefore need to be employed for the duration of the unit.

During the unit students will be expected to develop a portfolio of evidence of achievement of the main standards of mentorship, participate in debate regarding the nature of professional assessment of competence and to develop skills in relation to support and assessment of various students groups.

Career Opportunities

This unit is seen as important for health care staff who wish to develop their teaching skills in practice.

Teaching/learning methods and strategies

Your learning will be supported through a student centred work based learning approach. The unit is evidence based and related to current local and national agenda’s. There will be opportunities for you to engage in a variety of learning experiences. In this way you will be encouraged to relate back to your own practice the key learning outcomes of the unit. This process will be supported by lecturer facilitation, including the delivery of key presentations around the learning outcomes, as well as specialist sessions. You will also be required to plan how to meet the unit learning outcomes relating them to your own practice through the completion of the required assignments. Additionally your learning will be supported via tutorials, group work, E-learning via BREO and E-learning library resources. You will be able to bring your reflections on experiences in practice to enable integration of theory to practice.

Assessment

The assessment of this unit is in 3 parts. You will:

1) In partnership with your mentor, select a student and identify their learning needs, then select one of these learning needs and prepare a short teaching session that addresses the necessary issues. Your mentor will then assess you delivering the teaching to the student.

2) In partnership with your mentor, select a student to identify an area of their practice that requires an assessment. This can be related to either the students practice assessment document or to practice specifically related to your area of expertise. The assessment could be of a skill or form part of the students mid point or final interview.

3) Write a 2000 word evaluation of your role as a mentor in the supervision and assessment of your student/learner.

All three assessments and the required supporting evidence will be submitted in a single pack – the unit profile.

Further details about the programme

Support for students undertaking pre registration courses and professional courses to degree level are essential for the development of competence and the integration of theory and practice.

The need to develop partnerships between all those involved in professional education is crucial to the success of the student who are undertaking courses in health related courses.

Areas of study include:

The learning environment
Support of students in practice placements
Teaching student’s skills in practice
Accountability for assessment
Negotiating learning and developing portfolios of evidence
Effective partnerships and educational linking
Quality assurance in teaching and assessment
The roles of the professional bodies
The principles of assessment

Recommended reading

Stuart, C. (2007) Assessment, supervision and support in clinical practice: a guide for nurses, midwives and other health professionals Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Entry requirements

A professional qualification related to Healthcare.

Help Notes for Applicants

This is a level 3 (degree level) unit, therefore, if you have not studied for some time or have not studied in the UK at degree level, you may want to take the opportunity to do some study skills before you start.

If you work for an NHS trust you may want to join the library and undertake the training provided in the use of electronic searches.

You may also find it useful to visit the Nursing and Midwifery Council website as the publications section has relevant information about mentoring and assessment.

You will also need a mentor for the module who will be assessing you, this should be someone who has done this unit or its equivalent and has level 3 experience.

Finally you will need to identify a student to mentor during the programme, this should be either a pre registration student, post registration, newly qualified or adaptation student.

Fees, Bursaries, Scholarships, Costs

Contact NHS Business Unit details given below.

Attendance

See Unit Delivery Schedule for dates.

Find out more

How to apply:

Please contact the NHS Business Unit or download an application form from the website.

E: nhs-business-unit@beds.ac.uk
T: 01582 743048
F: 01582 743704

Related Links

• Healthcare application Forms
• Post-qualifying course prospectus and Unit delivery Schedule
• Nursing and Midwifery Council

Related courses

This unit is an optional unit in the field of Health Care and can contribute to any of the Health Care degree courses.

General Enquiries

• www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply for information about standard entry requirements, application routes, open days, fees and funding.
• T: +44 (0)1582 489286 UK/EU Admissions
• T: +44 (0)1582 489326 International Admissions
• Order a prospectus form. Enquire about courses and order a printed undergraduate or postgraduate prospectus.
• T: +44 (0)1234 400 400 University switchboard