Roles and responsibilities of the Practice Tutor

All OU Practice Tutors:

• Are appointed by the university and have a Nursing and Midwifery Council recordable teaching qualification, or are supported to work towards this qualification
• Hold a current nursing registration for the field of nursing that their allocated students are studying
• Are allocated students, who they support for the duration of each practice module for which they hold an appointment. The Practice Tutor therefore establishes a relationship with their students and the registered nurses who mentor them. In addition to providing professional educational advice, they also offer pastoral support to students. In other universities some aspects of their role might be undertaken by a Link Teacher and some by a Personal Tutor
• Work in partnership with service providers to support practice learning and facilitate meetings for the practice learning aspects of the programme. This will include:
  – Completing education audits of practice settings
  – Attending a minimum of three tripartite meetings during each practice module, which involve the student, the mentor and the Practice Tutor
  – Visiting practice areas to support managers and their teams in delivering the OU pre-registration nursing programme
  – Answering queries from mentors and others about the programme.
• Monitor students’ practice records. These are contained in the students’ portfolios and are reviewed at each tripartite meeting. Practice Tutors may also arrange additional meetings either electronically or face to face, where they can advise on portfolio development, particularly the compilation of evidence to support the demonstration of achievement of NMC competencies. Following portfolio submission, Practice Tutors receive a copy of each of their students’ portfolios to confirm that it is their students’ own work.
• Oversee students’ performance and development in the practice modules. They monitor students’ practice hours and the types of practice experience achieved, ensuring that students have met all the requirements set out by the NMC.

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