Abstract:

In the United Kingdom it is a requirement of the regulator for nursing and midwifery, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) that student nurses (learners) undertaking a nursing programme are mentored by an appropriately qualified registrant. At the University of Southampton we offer the Mentorship module through a variety of different routes; taught five day course, an APEL course for experienced practitioners, mixed mode and e-learning, on average in one year we delivery sixty modules. The delivery of such a variety of modes is complex.
The taught mentorship course consists of 10 days learning, of which 5 days are taugh and the other 5 days are made up of work-based learning.
Another approach is to provide a pathway that takes into consideration the persons previous experiences in supporting learners in clinical environments. The resultant accreditation of prior (experiential) learning or AP (E) L route has been developed as a result of feedback for the provision of more flexible approaches to gaining a mentorship qualification. In response the team have made available a structured AP(E)L route to enable practitioners to gain a recognised and approved qualification, using an approach which recognises any relevant pre-existing qualifications and experience ,and in so doing avoiding unnecessary repetition. The AP(E)L route provides an opportunity for such practitioners to work with a named AP(E)L advisor who is a member of the mentorship academic education team, to provide and present evidence of their achievements which are then matched against the NMC’s learning outcomes for mentorship. Any discrepancies can then be addressed by the applicant through the development of a learning agreement with the AP(E)L advisor, this module is therefore designed to facilitate an AP(E)L claim for the formal mentorship qualification using pre-existing experiences and qualifications.
In order to meet the ever increasing demand for mentorship education, the team have developed options for online and blended deliveries. In this paper we also discuss the approach taken to remote delivery, the benefits and challenges presented, lessons learnt. To date there have been 24 number of online and blended deliveries supporting in excess of 400 students.
Whilst providing remote delivery options offers benefits such as flexibility for learners, it also presents challenges. These include student engagement, social affordances, the effect of reduced social cues, support of students with learning differences such as dyslexia, the effects of culture on student engagement and limitations within the university virtual learning environment (VLE) to name but a few. In addition the pedagogic issues surrounding online learning are also considered.
Through these experiences and in response to student feedback the team developed the online modules to feature greater interactivity through the use of podcasts, vodcasts, and wikis, together with use of features such as adapted release and formative assessment using question mark perception.
This paper aims to share with the audience the various ways education can be delivered and supported using different approaches to learning whilst achieving the same outcome.

References:
Department of Health 2004 Knowledge and Skills Framework, London. HMSO
Nursing and Midwifery Council 2008 Standards to support mentors, practice teachers and teachers NMC London.