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Online Mentor Update
Discussing mentorship issues
The NMC require that online mentor updates should have a discussion element to them about mentorship issues. You can use one of the following scenarios as the basis for discussing mentorship issues.You may wish to have your discussions with other mentors or with your PLT practice or education representative.
Before you receive an email to confirm your mentor update, you will need to confirm that have had some discussion about the issues raised in these scenarios, or about concerns you have with students, with other mentors or PLT representatives.
Discussion scenario one (click to reveal)
Emma is a first year student who has been allocated to you as her mentor for 8 weeks. She is a very pleasant student who is always well-presented, punctual and reliable. She is also popular with the other members of the team. The only aspects that Emma seems to have a problem with is remembering to complete things adequately and forgetting to ask you to countersign her entries into a patient's plan of care. You have spoken to her about this on several occasions and she has reassured you she will remember in the future. There has been some improvement over the last few weeks. However, you have just completed a shift with Emma where you had asked her to make sure that two patients had their drinks and meals as they needed help with this activity, and needed their fluid intake and output recording on charts. When you ask Emma why there is nothing on the chart she says she did give the patients drinks and food but forgot to write it down as she was busy helping other staff. You explain to Emma the importance of documenting all aspects of care and state that you will be focussing on this aspect of her performance over the next few shifts.
Emma does improve the next day, but, on the following day, you find she has not completed these charts again. You are due to complete her end of year 1 assessment that evening and feel in a bit of a dilemma. Emma is really nice and works hard and you want to make sure she passes. You also think that she still has 2 years to refine these skills.
Suggested discussion points with your peers / PLT representative
- Is it acceptable to award Emma all of her practice outcomes and give her the benefit of the doubt?
- What if Emma never learns the importance of accurate documentation or finishing tasks completely?
- Have you ever wondered how a student got as far as they had in their training and why no-one had picked this up?
- Who could you ask for advice and support in this situation?
Discussion scenario two (click to reveal)
Martin is a 3rd year student who has just returned to the nursing programme after interrupting his course due to ill health. His doctor says he is fit to return to the programme providing he is able to take a rest when he starts to get very tired. At his preliminary interview, Martin reassures you, as his mentor, that he only needs to take ten minutes to recover but that if he doesn't take frequent rests, he tends to get very fatigued and ends up feeling quite ill for a few days afterwards.
As a mentor you are concerned about this. Martin is in his 3rd year and you wonder how he is going to cope as a registered nurse. You voice your concerns to Martin. Martin seems a little upset but states he can get part time work as a registered nurse initially. He is also hopeful (as is his GP) that, given time, his strength will return. Martin asks you if your concerns are going to affect his progress in this placement?
Suggested discussion points with your peers / PLT representative
- Is it reasonable to accommodate Martin's health problems?
- How can you minimise how Martin's health affects his performance?
- Should you make allowances for Martin if his overall performance is not what you would expect of others at this point in their course?
- Does Martin indicate that he is aware that he will have to acknowledge his limitations in terms of employment in the future?
- Does the profession accommodate students who have a disability?
- What advice is given in the Equality Act (2010) about employees who have a disability?
Discussion scenario three (click to reveal)
Kevin is a second year student to whom you have been allocated as his mentor. Kevin seems to complete the work you ask him to undertake but shows little initiative outside of what you ask him to do. He tends to ignore patient call systems unless specifically asked to respond, and doesn't seem to show initiative when patients raise problems or concerns that they have. He is also often late for duty and has not turned up for 2 shifts the previous week. He did not ring you to let you know he wasn't coming in.
At his intermediate interview you raise these concerns verbally and Kevin says he is sorry – this has never happened before. As these issues have not been highlighted in his Ongoing Achievement Record by other mentors, you feel it may be a short term issue and do not document these concerns but decide to wait a few weeks to see if he can improve.
Suggested discussion points with your peers / PLT representative
- Can you be certain that these issues haven't been a problem before?
- How might you try to identify what is suddenly causing this behaviour?
- What kind of action plan might you put in place for Kevin?
- What is the importance of documenting this interview and writing an action plan that the student agrees to?