Practice Based Learning in Nursing, Health and Social Care: Mentorship, Facilitation and Supervision

Dr. Ian Scott is Head of Academic Practice and Development Unit at University of Worcester. Dr. Jenny Spouse is Associate Dean for Practice Education at City University.

About the authors xi 1 Mentoring and supervision and other facilitative relationships 1
Ian Scott and Jenny Spouse

Introduction 1

Exploring the role of the practitioner teacher 1

Mentor 2

Supervisor 3

Coach 4

Apprenticeship and its relationship to mentorship and supervision 5

Why learning facilitators are important 9

What about the learner perspective? 12

Attributes and knowledge for the learning and teaching role 13

The workplace and learning 14

Summary 16

2 Personal and professional aspects of supervising others 17
Jenny Spouse

Introduction 17

Creating a learning partnership: ways in which relationships between learner and facilitator enhance learning 17

Being a newcomer 17

Establishing the relationship 19

Professional boundaries including duty of care, professional accountability and educational responsibility 20

Duty of care 20

Educational responsibility 24

Professional accountability 28

Learners’ perspective on supportive relationships 30

Models of mentoring/supervision 31

One-to-one mentoring 32

Team mentoring 32

Peer mentorship 33

Approaches to mentoring 33

Emotional labour and mentoring 34

Summary 36

3 The workplace as a learning environment: structures and sources of support and supervision 38
Jenny Spouse

Introduction 38

Concept of a learning environment, micro and macro factors 39

What is a learning environment? 39

Influence of geography on the learning environment 39

Policies and protocols and the learning environment 43

Staffing and skill mix 43

Supporting visiting learners 47

Protocols 50

Collaborative learning among the professions 53

Summary 54

4 Practice settings as a learning resource 58
Jenny Spouse

Introduction 58

External influences on professional education 59

Commissioning and developing professional programmes 61

Collaborative curriculum design 61

Curriculum planning for placements 64

Creating a curriculum for practice and a learning agenda 66

Developing learning resources and making them accessible 71

Quality assurance 72

Summary 74

5 Identifying your learner’s needs and documenting a working learning plan 75
Jenny Spouse

Introduction 75

Sponsorship to a community of practice 75

Identifying and assessing learning needs – the components and some strategies 80

Writing a working learning plan, its uses and abuses 82

Exploring and explaining theories of how people learn 84

Meeting the needs of learners with special needs: promoting diversity, inclusivity and equality 86

Disability in the workplace 87

Supporting learners with dyslexia 88

Supporting learners with sensory impairment 90

Supporting learners with mental-health needs 92

Summary 94

6 Facilitating professional development 96
Jenny Spouse

Introduction 96

What learners want to know 97

Learning to relate to patients and their carers 98

Developing technical knowledge 100

Explaining and exploring using the Model of Practical Skill Performance 103

Legitimate peripheral participation 104

Explaining and exploring social theories of learning 106

Learning to bundle practice activities together 110

Developing craft knowledge 113

Managing personal feelings 114

Developing the essence of professional practice: therapeutic action – caring comportment 116

Working in a community of practice 117

Exploring and explaining the value of being welcomed to an unfamiliar social environment 120

Summary 122

7 Reporting on progress: assessing performance and keeping evidence 123
Ian Scott

Introduction 123

Assessing and assessment 123

Types of assessment 124

Formative assessment 124

Summative assessment 125

Informal and formal assessment 126

Continuous assessment 126

Some assessment principles 127

Learning outcome 133

Doing the assessing 134

Pre-practice assessment: assessment through simulation 136

Pre-practice assessment: using reflection and analysis 138

Pre-practice assessment: discussion of practice prior to practice 139

Pre-practice assessment: case studies 140

Pre-practice assessment: challenge scenarios 141

Pre-practice assessment: witness testimonials 142

Assessments during practice: direct observation 143

Using an assessment tool 143

Keeping records 146

Assessment during practice: by patients, users and clients 147

Assessments during practice: direct observation of group activities 148

Assessments during practice: discussion of practice as it occurs 148

Assessment after practice: reflective analyses or commentaries 149

Assessment after practice debrief with mentor 150

Self-assessment 151

Role of an assessment strategy 153

Failing learners 154

Improving your assessment skills 155

Summary 156

8 Giving feedback and documenting progress 157
Ian Scott

Introduction 157

Feedback: some basics from theory 158

Feedback and systems 158

Feedback in practice 160

Responses to your feedback 163

Giving feedback some general guidance 163

Suggestions for successful feedback: some dos and don’ts 164

Models for giving feedback 165

Documents 171

Professional implications of documented records 172

Improving your feedback 173

Summary 174

9 Inquiring into personal professional practice 175
Ian Scott

Introduction 175

Inquiring into personal professional practice 175

What is action inquiry? 176

Using action inquiry in everyday practice 177

Role of reflection in action inquiry 178

What is reflection? 178

Using other models of reflective practice 183

Role of empirical evidence in action inquiry 186

Sources of empirical data 186

Group approaches to action inquiry 190

Action learning sets 191

Appreciative inquiry 192

Summary 193

10 Personal and professional development planning 194
Ian Scott

Introduction 194

Personal and professional development planning 194

Defining professional development 195

Professional development planning and appraisal systems 195

Differences in purpose 196

Goal setting 196

Finding a vision of you 197

Other visioning techniques 198

Importance of values 200

Where are you now? 200

Goal setting 201

Professional recognition as a clinical educator 202

Becoming a mentor, facilitator or supervisor 203

Priority setting 204

Importance 204

Challenging the barriers 206

Recording your goals 207

Professional development opportunities 208

Recording your achievements 210

Closing the circle: finding your own mentor/facilitator 212

Questions to use when choosing a mentor/facilitator 212

Summary 213

References 214

Index 223