How Bolton is supporting learners on clinical placement

After chatting with Donna Kelly, NAR, BA (Hons), PGCert FHEA, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery; it’s clear just how Bolton is supporting learners on clinical placement and why it matters so much. In courses that are 50% theory and 50% practice, the University of Bolton has two placement experience models and both are well-resourced and designed to give you the smoothest transition from classroom to ward, supporting our student’s studies.

Ways Bolton learners take on clinical placements

○ Apprenticeships - here you may have a central hub with your employer and ‘spokes’ to different areas where you need to go to meet your programme requirements. You may also complete block placements. The structure can vary, depending on the employer. Placements could include, surgical, medical, A&E, oncology and more in NHS trusts, mental health organisations and GP practices

○ Direct entry students - with this model, you’ll be on a block placement where you do, for example, 7 weeks at A&E and then could also ‘spoke out’ for a day with the Paramedics in North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust to get varied exposure

That’s much the same for most other UK universities, but where we differ is with our supportive, inclusive and nurturing environment. It’s why we’ve been voted No. 1 in Student Satisfaction for the last 5 years!

How Bolton supports learners on clinical placement

The first layer of support for learners on clinical placement is access to the Practice Assessment Record & Evaluation (PARE) web portal. It is a streamlined and simplified platform to get your messages, track your progress on assessments, ensure you’re meeting certain competencies and values and a way to evaluate your placement at the end. This gives you a voice to what you think has gone well and not so well. The next layer is with the team you’ll have to help you at Bolton: academic assessors, personal tutors, module tutors, programme leads and the Life Lounge with its counselling and other soft support services.

Finally, you’ll get support from our placement partners:

● Practice assessors & supervisors - we work in close collaboration with our partners, offering a buddy system in a lot of instances, and ensuring a high standard and duty of care including welfare concern support for all students

● Practice education facilitators - this team of health professionals will look after you while you are out on placement with walkarounds and 1-2-1 meetings. They also do our clinical update training for already registered practitioners as well. (If you’re a registered nurse or nursing associate, you need to revalidate every 3 years to ensure your knowledge is up to date. Bolton will support you in understanding what’s required to ensure you’re comfortable and feel confident enough to complete the required documents and CPD hours)

Why this support matters so much

You’ll come to appreciate the softer launch into clinical placement. It starts long before you ever set foot in a ward. We’ll help you adapt to the realities of the placement and the environmental shock. You’ll start with a clinical skills week in simulation so you’re ready for the look, feel and sounds of a ward, for example. We also have community setting simulators to prepare you to do exams and deliver medication in other locations like living rooms. Some of our mannequins can talk, cough and act like they’re in a certain level of pain. This is very important as a first step; learning in a safe environment. Donna explains that “because students are so well prepared by the time they go into practice, I’ve never seen a student feel overwhelmed by what they’ve seen in the ward. If there is some adverse situation, we also have debriefing and coaching resources available to further support students.” So, if you want to make a difference but you’re worried about the transition into placement, you’ll have the support you need to succeed at Bolton across every level.

To begin your journey, have a look at our courses here, come to a Nursing Open Evening, phone 01204 903394 or email admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk and we’ll support you at every step of your journey towards a rewarding career in Nursing & Midwifery.