What do practice supervisors do?

Practice supervisors’ role is to support and supervise nursing and midwifery students in the practice learning environment. All students must be supervised while learning in practice environments.

Practice supervisors can provide supervision in different ways. These depend on different things – it’s the AEI’s responsibility to decide what supervision is appropriate, with its practice learning partners.

Factors that AEIs and their practice learning partners should take into account when considering the way in which supervision may be delivered include:

• public protection
• student learning needs – both the level of learning required (student competence) and the student’s programme outcomes
• student and practice supervisor equality and diversity needs
• the availability of practice supervisors and their skills and knowledge.

Practice supervisors should also be able to judge what kind of supervision and support they are able to provide.

Equality and diversity needs

The AEI, with its practice learning partners, is responsible for ensuring that the equality and diversity needs of students and practice supervisors are taken into account. If needed, they should make reasonable adjustments. The AEI and its practice learning partners should have policies and procedures in place for this to happen.

Click on a link below for more information about practice supervisors’ possible responsibilities. These are only suggestions, different practice supervisors may have different responsibilities.

• Upholding public protection
• Providing inclusive and tailored learning experiences that enable students to meet their learning outcomes
• Tailored learning
• ‘Continuous’ learning
• Giving feedback
• Contributing to decisions on assessment for progression
• Raising concerns about student performance and behaviour