All registrants have a professional responsibility to keep themselves up-to-date. If you have an annual appraisal you can use this as evidence of your currency and capability. If you have not had an appraisal in the last year you should make an appointment with your line manager to arrange one as soon as possible. If there is a personal or professional development plan ensure that the agreed actions are being implemented. You will also have confirmed to the NMC every three years, by completing a notification of practice form, that you have completed the required hours of learning activity relevant to your practice. However, if you change your place of work (e.g. moving from a medical ward to an Intensive Care Unit) it may be that your clinical currency and capability is lacking in that particular speciality such that you would be unable to mentor a student in that area with confidence. In this situation you would need to gain experience in that area and discuss with your manager through the annual appraisal process when you have the appropriate level of competence to mentor a student. Now complete Activity 10.1.

In order to sign-off a student you must be on the same part of the register and field of practice as that of the student you will be mentoring. This means that if you are registered as a mental health nurse you can only sign-off students on the mental health branch programme. If you hold a second registration you cannot sign-off a student from that branch unless you can demonstrate clinical currency and capability in that field of practice.

This aspect of the role requires you to have an understanding of the programme your students are on. Attendance at annual mentor updates should give you a good feel of the above requirements for your students. You don’t need to know the programme in detail but should have an understanding of:

The NMC sets the standards of proficiency for the programmes they approve. These can be obtained from the NMC website under the education section. All students are required to meet the standards of proficiency through completion of the programme that has been approved by the NMC. The NMC website can be accessed at www.nmc-uk.org.

All pre-registration nursing students are required to complete 2300 hours of theory and 2300 hours of practice, which the university has to confirm that a student has completed to the NMC before the student can register with them. As 50% of a student’s programme is spent in practice, mentors play a significant role in facilitating the overall programme. Most universities will require mentors to confirm the number of hours a student has completed during their practice placement. It is very important therefore that these are accurate and any absences that the student has while on placement are recorded on the attendance record but it is also important that you inform the university directly as well. If a student asks to make up any missed time while on their placement with you this may be possible but check with your university and always inform them that this has been arranged otherwise they will have no evidence that the student has been sick or absent.

Pre-registration programmes have progression points. These are points along the programme where the student is required to meet certain requirements set by the NMC before they can continue on the programme. In nursing the first progression point is at the end of year one. Students must have completed the correct number of hours (767 hours each of theory and practice) and passed all their theory and practice assessments within 12 weeks of completing their first year in order to progress to the second year. As a mentor it is your responsibility to ensure that their practice assessment documentation is complete including their OAR and that their attendance record is signed. This information will be passed to the assessment/progression board at the university who will make the final decision as to whether the student meets the criteria to progress on the programme. Currently, the next progression point is at the end of the programme. Undertake Activity 10.2 if you support students on other programmes leading to registration with the NMC.

As a mentor you are always professionally responsible and accountable to the NMC for the assessment decisions that you make. However, as a sign-off mentor you are also professionally responsible and accountable to the NMC for the final decision regarding whether a student has successfully completed all the practice requirements of their programme prior to their entry to the professional register.