Becoming a supervisor or assessor

Are you registered with either the NMC, the HCPC or Social Work England?

• Yes: Once you have been prepared and supported you can fulfil the role of practice supervisor.
• No: You are not able to act in the role of a practice supervisor but can still make a valuable contribution to students' learning and development.

Have you had previous preparation to provide supervision and facilitate learning for students?

• Yes: You will need to undertake practice supervisor preparation training.
• No: You will need to undertake practice supervisor preparation training.

Are you a registrant who has previously completed a course or equivalent in relation to the NMC Standards for Learning and Assessment in Practice (SLAiP) (2008)?

• Yes: You will need to undertake practice supervisor preparation training
• No: You will need to undertake a practice supervisor preparation training.

The NMC have set out standards for what is expected for the preparation of practice supervisors. Visit the NMC website for more information.

Preparation for the Practice Supervisor role is available. Please visit NHS England, eLearning for healthcare.

As a practice supervisor you will contribute to the student's learning journey by:

• Providing the student with a sense of belonging, ensuring that the learning environment is welcoming
• Serving as a role model for safe and effective practice in line with professional codes of conduct
• Supporting the student's learning experience, helping the student to plan their learning experience, ensuring learning opportunities are facilitated
• Liaising with others who have contributed to the student's learning including other health and social care professionals and service users and carers
• Providing feedback and contributing to the student's practice assessment documentation, conducting initial and mid-point interviews
• Raising concerns about student performance and behaviour as required
• Communicating with the practice assessor and academic assessor, providing feedback to inform assessment decisions
• Upholding public protection when supporting and supervising students.

Support available for practice supervisors includes:

• The practice assessor for the student
• The academic assessor for the student
• Discussions with other practice supervisors and your peers
• Your ward manager/learning environment manager.

Are you a registered nurse?

• Yes: Once you have completed the required update preparation you can fulfil the role of practice assessor for a nursing student.
• No: You are not able to act in the role of a practice assessor for a nursing student but can still make a valuable contribution to students learning and development and may be able to fulfil the role of a practice supervisor if you are a registered health or social care professional.

Are you a registrant who has previously completed a course or equivalent in relation to the NMC Standards for Learning and Assessment in Practice (SLAiP) (2008)?

• Yes: You will need to undertake practice assessor preparation  training.
• No: You will need to undertake practice assessor preparation training.

The NMC have set out standards for what is expected for the preparation of practice assessors. Visit the NMC website for more information.

Preparation for the Practice Assessor role is available. Please visit NHS England, eLearning for healthcare.

As a practice assessor you will normally be allocated a pre-registration nursing student from York St John University for a series of placements. You will normally oversee a student's learning for an academic year. A student will normally begin their year of study and end their year of study with their academic assessor and work with practice supervisors in different placement areas who will feed back to you regarding the student's performance.

Practice learning for student nurses is organised using a hub and spoke model. You can see more about this on our Organisation of practice learning page.

As a practice assessor you assess and confirm the student's achievement of practice learning for a placement or a series of placements. As a nominated practice assessor, you will also work with the nominated academic assessor to make a recommendation for student progression.

As a practice assessor you will:

• Contribute towards students' induction and orientation to the practice placement with practice supervisors. This may include contributing to an initial meeting with the student, identifying student learning outcomes and agreeing dates for the interim and final review meetings
• Contribute towards the continuity and coordination of supervision through liaison with practice supervisors, students and other members of the team
• Establish and maintain effective communication and collaboration with practice supervisors (seeking information and feedback) and the nominated academic assessor (making progression decisions) for the individual student
• Discuss and agree the practice supervisor's contribution to the student's review meetings
• Contribute towards student practice placement review meetings
• Conduct evidence-based assessments, informed by evidence from practice supervisors and accurately record the rationale and outcome of these decisions in the student's practice assessment document
• Provide feedback to practice supervisors on key aspects of their role
• Raise concerns about student competence and conduct.

As a practice assessor, you will receive ongoing support and updating for the role from one or more of the following:

• The academic assessor for the student
• Your learning environment manager
• Your practice learning facilitator/co-ordinator
• Discussions with other practice assessors and academic assessors to share best practice and discuss assessment decisions
• Clinical Co-Ordinators Meetings at York St John University
• Revalidation by use of critical reflection on your role in student supervision and assessment.