Placement Survival Pack
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Student Placement Survival Pack Author: Gina Williams Project Director: Julia Cooper Staff Lead: Mary Cooke Illustrations: Paul Cooke This project was kindly sponsored by The Manchester Alumni Association via the Learning Enrichment Fund. Contents: • Introduction from Mary Cooke and Useful Contact Numbers • About this Project • Support on Placement • Your Role on Placement • Excellence in Practice • Making up Hours & Working Nights/Weekends on Placement • Mentors • Accountability and Responsibilities of Mentors • Trusts and PEF’s • Travel Information • Public Transport Routes • Parking Information • Placement Assessment Document (PAD) and Learning Objectives • Portfolio • Spokes • Whistleblowing • Other useful information: • Placement Change Requests and the Allocations Process • Manchester Hardship Fund • Interrupting This project was kindly sponsored by The Manchester Alumni Association via the Learning Enrichment Fund. Message from Mary Cooke, BNurs 2013 Cohort Lead & Placement Enhancement Project Staff Lead Clinical placements provide 50% of your learning as a Student Nurse. You will have around 2,500 hours of clinical work, some based in School in the Clinical Laboratories, some in simulation, and others where nurses work in clinical settings both community (primary) and secondary care. There is detailed advice and guidance in the Course Handbook (online). Other advice is provided in sessions during your programme on theory days. Key information you may require are: Obtaining Support on Placement / Issues Related to Practice Learning Raising Concerns About Clinical Practice Interim Interview Working With Your Mentor Long Days, weekend working and night shift requirements Health and Safety – including travel to and from placement The Course Team endeavour to support you via Helen Davidson (Academic Lead for Practice Learning) and the allocations office, and your Academic Adviser is a sound source of guidance - but the booklet and the on-line personal stories and blog posts will be of great help. You can help your peers by sending in material of your own and add to the wealth of information and advice from experienced colleagues. Tim Walton is the staff contact for your contributions or you can email suggestions to [email protected]. Useful Contacts: Academic Advisor: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....... Academic Lead for Practice Learning: [email protected] Sickness & Absence: [email protected] 0161 306 7807 Practice Learning Unit: [email protected] Occupational health: [email protected] 0161 306 5806 Greater Manchester Nightline: A non-judgemental listening and information service for students between 8pm-8am during term time. The number can be found in the back of most library cards, or email [email protected] from your student email to receive an autoreply with the contact number or visit www.manchester.nightline.ac.uk for details of other services. ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ This project was kindly sponsored by The Manchester Alumni Association via the Learning Enrichment Fund. About this Project: To accompany this booklet we have developed an online blog that is run by nursing students from the University of Manchester. Here you will find useful guides and hear from students about their own experiences on placements; what went well and what didn’t. It will help you through what can be a nerve wracking time the start of your nursing journey. You will hear from students from each field and from each year as well as staff from the University, current Nurses and the wider field. Please visit www.uomstudentnurseplacementenhancement.wordpress.com and have a good look around, read the blog posts and meet the rest of the project team. The aim of this project is to support our peers in enhancing their learning experiences whilst on placements during their time as a student nurse at the University of Manchester. We plan to share ideas of what makes a ‘good’ placement and how to make the most of your time there in order to develop your student role further. Experienced student nurses will share their ideas about how to gain the best from clinical experience, whatever field they are in, and hopefully inspire and assist confidence-building for new students in relation to their role on placement. This blog is an interactive project and we appreciate your help to continue to develop the site. If there is any information you found particularly helpful please let us know via the comments online and all suggestions are welcome for any topics you think should be covered; please get in touch via [email protected] Good Luck in your nursing journey, we hope you enjoy every minute of it and that this project helps you to make the most out of your time on placement! Gina & Julia Please note… The project has been funded by the Learning Enrichment Fund: The University of Manchester Alumni; all participants are grateful for the opportunity provided. The independent views and opinions expressed within this booklet and on the accompanying website are those of the student authors during their study for the BNurs (Hons) degree and are not necessarily those of The University of Manchester, the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work or the NHS. All information within this booklet was correct at the time of printing, and should not be treated as an exhaustive or definitive source of information, but as a starting point for any issues or queries you may encounter during your time on the BNurs course. If unsure, it’s always best to contact your AA as the first port of call or refer directly to the course material on Blackboard. Illustrations by Paul Cooke - [email protected] This project was kindly sponsored by The Manchester Alumni Association via the Learning Enrichment Fund. Support on Placement: If you have a problem on placement it’s important that you know who to contact for support, this flowchart will help you identify points of contact within placement and university to speak to about any placement issues you’re having. Mentor or Academic Associate Advisor (AA) Mentor Ward Manager University Link or other senior Student Student Lecturer (ULL) ward staff Practice Academic Lead Education for Practice Facilitator (PEF) Learning It’s always best to keep in touch with your AA, whether it’s an issue with your own learning experience or regarding any incident you’ve observed. If you are not sure where to go with an issue your AA will be able to point you in the right direction. If you’re concerned about meeting your placement outcomes or have queries about your learning in practice, discuss this with your mentor or your associate mentor if your placement has a team based mentorship style. There is space to record these additional meetings in your PAD as well as your initial, midway and end of placement meetings. If your issue involves your mentor or you don’t feel able to talk to them, you can contact the PEF for your area in conjunction with your AA, this can offer a quicker, on-site resolution for difficult situations. There are also University Link Lecturers who liaise within each trust from the university to develop academic and practice links. Part of their role includes supporting students in clinical practice, particularly when clinical learning issues arise. PEFs also urge students to come forward with placement/mentorship issues and ideas when they arise, this will help them improve your experiences in practice while you are based in that area. However, even if you’re happy with your time in practice PEFs really appreciate honest feedback from your evaluations- this helps them maintain high standards and improve things for subsequent students at your placement. If you’re worried about your own learning, it’s important to get in touch with someone to discuss this sooner rather than later. This enables you to work with your mentor and your AA to create an action plan to help you meet your learning objectives. Details of the PEFs, ULLs and other people involved in student learning should be on the student noticeboard at your placement. You should also be given the name of your mentor when you ring up for your first shift and they should note their contact details down in your PAD when you have your initial induction meeting. The contacts page on the NMSW site is also a useful source of contact information- www.nursing.manchester.ac.uk/mentors/contacts This project was kindly sponsored by The Manchester Alumni Association via the Learning Enrichment Fund. The Role of the Student on Placement: You are responsible for your own learning and should be able to demonstrate this to your mentor. Always be responsible for the maintenance and safe keeping of