December 2010

Grading of students As you are well aware we have been grading students in practice for over a year now. Many of the initial teething problems have now been ironed out; however, there still seems to be confusion about the levels students are assessed at. Several years ago the numbers representing levels of study altered from levels 1, 2 and 3 to 4 – certificate level, 5 – diploma level and 6 – degree level. Our 3 year BSc (Hons) students will study all three levels over the duration of the course starting with the level 4 work in the first year. The 18 month students enter the course at level 5 and are assessed at degree level (level 6). Subsequently the grading grids you will find in the profile documents for the 3 year programme, relate to the different levels the student is being assessed at. The comments and criteria within the grid relate therefore to the respective level of training. This means that whenever you are grading a student you are free to utilise all of the scale from 40 – 100% on the grids for that year. All of the grading grids within the 18 month profiles are set at level 6 and again the full range of marks can be utilised. It is important to remember though that you need to be able to fully justify the grade you have awarded.

Drug calculations

Within the final level 6 delivery suite placement document we expect the students to write detailed notes about 10 different drugs. It is expected that the students choose drugs that they are actually using at the time rather than drugs selected randomly from a list or copied from the BNF.

It is an NMC requirement that mentors should not only supervise the drug administration but also discuss the drug with the student and observe them calculating the correct dose. Unfortunately on some occasions students have made significant errors with the entries in their profiles, especially with the drug calculations section. Following discussions with students and mentors it appears that mentors have simply signed the completed sheets without checking they are correct or actually seeing the student undertake the drug calculation and /or administration. We therefore ask that mentors are extra vigilant with this assessment to minimise the risk of any future drug errors.

Dear Mentors

Welcome to the final newsletter of 2010. As Christmas is fast approaching the BCU Midwifery team would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas, a fun festive season and a prosperous 2011.

As usual this newsletter looks at recent issues occurring within the world of mentorship and also some of the recent and forthcoming events within the University

Alison.edwards@bcu.ac.uk

Don’t forget you can contact me at anytime regarding mentorship, profiles or the allocations

Mott MacDonald On February 15th and 16th the NMC will be coming to Birmingham City University to review our Midwifery programmes and partner trusts. A group of reviewers will be meeting groups of staff and students both within the University and within selected clinical areas. One aspect in line for special attention is mentorship and in particular ‘sign off’ mentor provision. The local and university mentor databases will be looked at, in addition to the training provided within BCU. In preparation for the visit, all staff are encouraged to ensure that the resources for students are up to date and that as many mentors as possible have attended a mentor update. Sandwell and City merger Many of you will be aware that at the end of January 2011 Sandwell maternity unit will be closing and moving across to the City hospital site. This is clearly going to impact on the students and of course the staff that are being transferred to a new clinical area. The two Universities alongside Trust staff are working closely together to minimise the impact the move will have on students, including holding a welcome meeting on 7th December, for new and existing students on the City site. For current City students and mentors we would like to remind them that the BCU teaching staff continue to be available to provide support if issues occur. Notifying any problems early enough and Midway interviews A recent review of placement profiles has identified a number of issues regarding the timing of assessment interviews and communication between teaching staff and mentors. On some occasions midway and final interviews have been undertaken on the same day and some students have even had the initial interview then too. This unfortunately results in the student often having to redo the placement because they haven’t been assessed correctly. If a midway interview is conducted after more than 60% of the way through a placement then the student has no time to utilise any action plans effectively. This is a significant issue if the student is seen to be failing. In addition, if there is a problem with continuous mentorship, a failing student or difficulties with completing the interviews at appropriate times, then the tutors at BCU need to know as soon as possible in order that we can try to resolve the problem and also provide support where required.

For your diary There will be two new aqua-natal training courses running this year. The course runs for two days and will provide Midwives with the skills to set up aqua-natal classes of their own. It is a RCM accredited course with a certificate of completion provided. Provisional dates are 11th and 12th April 2011 20th and 21st July 2011 Cost £250 For further details please contact Natasha Carr 0121 331 6085 or Maggie Prain 0121 331 7182 Or email on Natasha.Carr@bcu.ac.uk Maggie.Prain@bcu.ac.uk Mentor update days A reminder that it is mandatory requirement for every mentor to attend an annual mentor update day. Dates for mentor update days at BCU include Wednesday 5th January 2011 Wednesday 21st January 2011 Monday 28th February 2011 Thursday 10th February 2011. For the year 2011 look out for in house sessions at your individual trusts too. For more details of these please ask your link tutors. You don’t need to attend both but make sure that you inform BCU and the local PPM of your attendance to make sure the database is updated with your details.