Practice Education (Nursing & Midwifery)

Practice Education is the development and delivery of high quality teaching and learning in Health and Social Care practice settings.

Placement experiences constitute 50% of each student's programme and are a vital factor in promoting understanding and development of professional craft knowledge or 'finger tip knowledge'. They help students become fit for practice, fit for purpose and fit for award by the time they complete their programme.

Each placement provides students with educational opportunities to develop their professional craft knowledge through:

• observing good practice
• engaging in good practice alongside a mentor and other practitioners
• practising under the more distant supervision of a mentor or other practitioner. 

However, learning professional craft knowledge is not achieved through observation and practice alone; students also have time to investigate their practice, to study their patients/clients and their carers, to discuss their learning with experienced colleagues and to formulate and reformulate their understanding through writing, discussion and reading.

• Download the NMC Guidance on Professional Conduct for Nursing and Midwifery Students (published September 2010) 
• For reference copies of your Record of Achievement (Portfolios)
• Educational audit form and information/nomination forms for the Placement of the Year Awards
• Communities of Practice (CoP) - CoPs provide a placement base for selected groups of pre-registration students throughout their programme
• Supporting and assessing learning in practice settings module (NM3272)
  This module, which can be undertaken as part of the CPD framework or as a stand-alone unit, will enable trained staff to explore more closely the skills knowledge and attitude required to facilitate and develop and assess learning in practice
• Policies and guidelines relating to academic support for students and practice staff in placements
• Practice learning information - toolkits, guides, evaluation forms, Placement of the Year Awards and more for students undertaking placements.
• Client attachment
• Cause for concern form - the purpose of the cause for concern form is to make certain that both student and staff are aware of any issue of concern at the earliest possible stage and that a supportive action plan can be agreed.