ADNS/BANS: Assessment of Practice Document update: September 2008 Presentation N.C/L.J 19/11/08

Assessment of Practice: Background The nursing Essential Skills Clusters (ESCs) introduced by the N.MC identify skills that: are under broad headings fundamental to best practice relate to all nursing fields of practice reflect patient expectation of new qualifiers in specific areas complement existing NMC outcomes and proficiencies are required to be incorporated within all pre-registration nursing programmes commencing from Sept 2008 require specific testing require to be demonstrated before entry to the branch programme and prior to registration will be subject to ongoing monitoring and review After close partnership working with clinical colleagues the decision was taken to utilise the ESCs as the basis of the new Assessment documentation.

Practice assessment document: Key features 1 Each student has 2 booklets: The Placement Assessment Document ( PAD) and the Skills Passport. Both booklets are to be used to assess Sept cohorts onwards. The PAD is based on the ESCs and students must pass these to pass the clinical placement module. As there may be more than 1 placement in each module the booklet contains a diagram showing the possible progression a student may have through the module. The Skills Passport may be used to provide detailed evidence to support the assessment of the ESCs. The Professional Behaviours in the PAD are mapped to the ESCs and provide detailed evidence to support their assessment.

Practice assessment document: Key features 2 During the initial interview a mentor should record whether any specific skills in the PAD are not available and contact their Link Lecturer. Levels of expected performance of the student for each year are outlined in the booklet. Students' self assessment is recorded in their reflective progress reviews. Students should be assessed on ALL the ESCs in the PAD. Additional numerical assessment of medicine management will take place in the University. Assessing mentors are required to record their mentor details in the PAD.

Practice assessment document: Key features 3 Students are asked to map their reflective accounts and testimonies to relevant ESCs. Service users and carers may now write testimonies following the guidance in the 'Testimonies' section of the PAD. As part of each final interview Mentors record a Summary of Achievement in addition to a final grading of the placement. These will inform any job references given following the course. In the final interview of the last Year 1 placement the Mentor also confirms that in achieving all the ESCs the student has met the N.M.C. outcomes for the Common Foundation Programme.