Becoming a Practice Supervisor and Assessor – Nursing and Midwifery
Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor (Nursing, Midwifery and Nursing Associates)
Practice supervisor is a registered health care professional (nurse, midwife, allied health professional, registered nursing associate) or other, who works with the student enabling their learning and provides feedback and evidence of the student’s attainment and development to their designated assessor.
Supervisors need to be prepared to understand the programme and assessment requirements.
Practice assessor is a registered health care professional on the same part of the NMC register as the student they are designated to assess. They are required to complete the student’s assessment process and together with the designated academic assessor make decisions about the student’s proficiency and progression from one stage of the programme to the next (at the end of the year). An assessor is normally designated for each placement experience or the whole year.
Assessors need to undertake preparation for their role to:
- understand the programme and assessment requirements
- be on the employer/university Assessor Register
- maintain their proficiency and CPD through regular assessor updates and revalidation.
Academic assessor is required to be on the same part of the NMC register as the students they are designated to assess. They are required collaboratively with the designated practice assessor to make decisions about proficiency and progression of the student form one stage to the next. The student will have a different academic assessor for each stage of the programme.
All Nursing and Midwifery students require supervision and assessment by registrants prepared for the role (NMC 2018).
You can undertake preparation through a session delivered by your employer or through the following pathway:
Prior to beginning preparation you must read this document for details.
Online Practice Supervisor preparation
- Undertake mini eLearning for Practice Supervisors. Once completed print out your certificate.
- Supplemented by workbook
- Associated learning via POPPI:
– Facilitating learning
– Promoting skills acquisition
– Managing poor performance - Familiarise with programme specific course / assessment information – dependent on type of learners in their environment: Nursing, Nursing Associate or Midwifery. This is done via e-learning and POPPI web pages.
– Assessment of student nurses e-learning
– Assessment of student nursing associates e-learning
– Assessment of student midwives e-learning (coming soon) - Notify your Trust’s Practice Development Team you have completed the training.
- Your name is entered on to the Practice Supervisor Register.
Online Practice Assessor preparation
- Undertake mini eLearning for Practice Assessors.
- Supplemented by workbook.
- Associated learning via POPPI:
– Facilitating learning
– Promoting skills acquisition
– Managing poor performance - Familiarise with programme specific course / assessment information – dependent on type of learners in their environment: Nursing, Nursing Associate or Midwifery. This is done via e-learning and POPPI web pages.
– Assessment of student nurses e-learning
– Assessment of student nursing associates e-learning
– Assessment of student midwives e-learning (coming soon) - Undertake online or face to face discussion on role, responsibilities and accountabilities. Delivered by the University Placement Development Teams. CPD workshops: Book your place.
- Notify your Trust’s Practice Development Team you have completed the training.
- Your name is entered on to the Practice Assessor Register.