Summary

This section has provided an overview of the way in which the practice elements of the programme are organised, with particular reference to the purpose of providing learning in both the core practice learning base and in complementary/contrasting practice areas. The key points to remember are:

• Periods of practice learning will normally be a minimum of 20 days (150 hours wte). The exception to this is the ten day induction to the student role as a learner in practice at the beginning of each stage of the programme.
• Supernumerary practice time is a requirement for all the practice hours students undertake, 2,300 hours in total across the programme.

Experience must be in the context of inter professional working and the delivery of care across 24 hours, 7 days a week. It must also include experience across a range of services and dependency levels:

• In other than exceptional circumstances, within each practice module a period of practice will be undertaken in both a community setting and an inpatient setting (NMC 2010: 77, R6.5.1 & R6.5.2).
• Across the programme a minimum of three community-based experiences and three in-patient experiences will be completed (NMC 2010: 77, R6.5.1 & R6.5.2).
• A minimum of two complementary/contrasting practice learning experiences are to be completed within each stage in addition to that gained within the core practice-base.

Outcomes

So now you have completed this part of the induction do you feel able to:

• explain how your student can achieve a breadth of experience in practice, whilst remaining in the core practice-base
• discuss the purpose of complementary/contrasting practice learning experiences
• state the importance of ensuring that your student’s supernumerary status is maintained, whilst learning in practice?

Next page: Assessment in practice