8 Preparation for practice learning experience
• To enable students to prepare for their practice learning experience with older people
• To discuss the underpinning resources to facilitate effective learning experience in practice with older people
• To consider the learning opportunities and particular skills that students can develop while working with and caring for older people across a range of settings
Preparation for practice
Preparation for your practice placement is an essential part of your learning experience overall and it is a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirement that 50% of your programme is based in clinical practice. You will hear your academic tutors and clinical mentors talk about having to complete 4600 hours between theory and practice hours, and the NMC (2010) now enables some of those hours of practice to take place in the clinical skills learning environment within the university setting.
Practical preparation steps to help you to learn in practice and maximise learning opportunities
Making contact with your allocated placement team
Activity
Log on to your own university learning resource centre (such as BlackBoard) and find your online learning material with regards to clinical skills or preparation for practice placements. (For example, see the University of Nottingham practice learning pages: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nursing/practice-learning/index.aspx.)
Tip
Use the following as a checklist prior to starting your placement (Holland & Roxburgh 2012).
Item | Yes | No |
---|---|---|
Checked dates of placement | ||
Found out where it is | ||
Found out best way to get there | ||
What time to arrive | ||
What to take with me | ||
What to wear (see uniform options) | ||
Name of mentor and ward/unit/health centre manager/sister | ||
Logged onto the course learning resource centre (intranet/password needed) and checked for any messages from programme/module leader/personal tutor | ||
Found out information available on any practice learning links on the School Website | ||
Found out link teacher name for the placement | ||
Undertaken some initial reading about the kinds of patient problems I may come across and the possible care of the patients | ||
Obtained a personal file for using at home to make notes on various health problems, signs and symptoms, medications, surgical interventions, etc. | ||
If time, practise some skills relevant to placement in clinical skills lab with teacher agreement | ||
Refresh knowledge in any notes undertaken in lectures/seminars at university | ||
Obtain at least one book from library or other resource which is relevant to the clinical placement, e.g. nursing the surgical patient (Pudner 2010) | ||
Ensure plenty of time to get to placement on the first day |
Support in practice and the role of the practice team
Activity
Find out from your mentor on arrival at your placement what type of ‘spoke’ or insight visits you can undertake as part of the learning experience, and whether there are any dedicated ‘placement learning pathways’ as defined by the NMC (2010) organised for students in that placement. (These are pathways which enable students to gain a variety of linked experiences following a particular patient or a pathway of care such as admitting a patient to a ward for surgery, taking them to the operating theatre, staying with them for their whole surgery then to the recovery ward and back to the main placement.)

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