Practice supervision should be ‘sufficiently coordinated and continuous’, so it upholds public protection and enables the student to meet their learning outcomes.
The continuity and coordination of supervision can be flexible based on circumstances. ‘Continuity’ need not mean a student having the same practice supervisor for practice experience but rather ensuring sufficient hand over and coordination between different practice supervisors.
A decision on what’s appropriate in what circumstances can be reached by taking into account the student’s learning outcomes, confidence, competence and increasing independence, and any equality and diversity considerations alongside an understanding of the knowledge, skills and availability of practice supervisors.
When supervising students practice supervisors should decide what level of continuity is appropriate for each individual student at each point in their learning or programme. Having a number of different supervisors during a part of a programme will enable students to gain exposure to a range of different training and managerial styles, areas of expertise and experiences.
Relevant NMC standards for this section
2.5: there is sufficient coordination and continuity of support and
supervision of students to ensure safe and effective learning experiences
