FAQ - Students

Please see this notice from our placement team:  Network and Connect Care

The logistical elements of each placement vary. Whether students complete a virtual placement, in-person placement, or a blend of both is determined by the fieldwork placement site and your mentor.

Ask your fieldwork mentor if he/she can set aside some time to discuss your progress. If sharing feedback is difficult for her/him – perhaps sharing some specific questions will help. It is always helpful to use ‘I’ statements such as: “I appreciate frequent feedback; it helps me understand how I am doing and what I still need to work on.” Establish regular opportunities to chat, ie after each day or at coffee break. Try to be specific when you ask for feedback. Share your opinion of your successes and your challenges, and then ask for her/ his feedback. Or, ask about a particular area of your project. You can also ask your instructor for help and support. Acquiring feedback is important for your growth as a learner.

Call your fieldwork mentor and e-mail or contact your supervising faculty. It is important not to work while sick. Do your best to keep healthy.

No.

Students are required to dress in business casual attire or more formally depending on dress code policies within your sponsoring institutions. As this is not a clinical placement experience, you will not wear scrubs or other forms of clinical attire.

Any hours spent at your clinical site or doing work related to your leadership placement (e.g. reviewing COVID-19 policies, working on projects, communicating with your mentor, completing your field activity logs and weekly reflections, learning opportunities etc.). Hours spent completing course assignments will not be included in your fieldwork placement hours.

It is important to think about this near the beginning of the term to ensure that you have an appropriate timeline for completing your hours. Talk to your mentor about if you will have a remote, blended or in-person experience. Together with your mentor, set out a schedule that works for you. For example, some students might choose to have in-person time at the sites on Monday and Tuesday and then work remotely on Wednesday and Thursday. 

It is optional to complete hours during the Reading Week break.

Your fieldwork activity log and weekly reflection should take approximately 45 min - 1hr a week to complete.

Discuss the matter with your instructor and your fieldwork mentor. It is acceptable to ask for a day off for a special event. You will have to make up the hours as the 192 total hours are non-negotiable.

These are common feelings and are usually part of the ‘getting to know each other' phase. Try to bring your best positive attitude and your best work ethic to your leadership fieldwork experience every day. If things do not improve it is important to ask your fieldwork mentor to set aside time to discuss your relationship. Both of you need to be invested in your learning and your relationship positively and respectfully. It is important to keep in mind that a fieldwork mentor-student relationship is not a friendship but a professional one focused on helping you make the transition to a graduate nurse. Again – your instructor can help guide you in this matter. If you feel unfairly treated in any way, please share these feelings with your fieldwork mentor and instructor as soon as possible

This is also a common feeling as the leadership fieldwork experience pushes you to learn and accomplish at a fast pace. Share your concerns with your fieldwork mentor and instructor right away so you can explore these feelings and set in place the best plan for you to move forward.

Try calling the site and leave a message for your fieldwork mentor asking them to call you. Do not forget to provide your contact information.

It is a good idea to have at least consistent weekly check ins with your mentor. Depending on what works for you and your mentor, you may arrange to have check-ins more frequently.

Have this discussion at the beginning of your leadership fieldwork experience and establish a plan before you start. Some fieldwork mentors would prefer you work only with them, others will arrange for an alternate fieldwork mentor for that day.

After taking appropriate first aid measures, report your injury to your fieldwork mentor and follow agency guidelines for documentation of injury. Complete WCB Workers Report of Injury. Also, complete the Critical Incident Report. All documents must be submitted to the Clinical Placement Office within 24 hours.​ These documents are available on the Faculty of Nursing Website under Forms.

Communication is important, speak with your fieldwork mentor about your progress and discuss your aspirations for assuming more responsibility. You can negotiate this transition ensuring both parties are comfortable with your increased independence.Your instructor can help you with this discussion.

The Faculty of Nursing wants to support our varsity athletes, so speak with the course lead before beginning the leadership fieldwork experience. This program is challenging and has a specific requirement of hours. She/he can assist you in determining if this is the right time for you to enroll in this leadership fieldwork experience based on your team responsibilities. When you are enrolled, you and your fieldwork mentor can work together in negotiating time off for your team events. You are still required to complete 192 leadership fieldwork hours to complete the leadership fieldwork experience.

Do not take on extra hours through overtime shifts. You are not legally covered to work past a full-time schedule. Your leadership fieldwork experience is a challenging time in your nursing career. You need time to complete coursework and stay healthy. You are expected to work the equivalent of full-time working hours.

Remember this is a professional relationship and so safe boundaries must be established very early in your relationship. Consider this power differential before you engage in any social activities outside of the work environment.

Your hours are negotiated with your fieldwork mentor and instructor. Be upfront and discuss your wishes. Among you, you should be able to arrange for some strategically placed time when you can extend a weekend to allow you to see your family. Your instructor is your guide regarding what is feasible.

Your mentor might have an initial idea about a focus for your project. If not, you can discuss with your mentor what your interests are and see if there is an opportunity for you to create a project based on that. You do not have to know what your project will be in the first initial meeting or week with your mentor. It is okay to take some time to explore the site and your mentor’s role to see how you could contribute. Taking notes during meetings and writing down the things that you can contribute to can help you develop an idea for your project. 

The following are some examples from earlier N425 students 

• Created information resources on recovery-oriented care to be used in the orientation of new staff. 

• Completed a lifestyle statement form for students in the Faculty of Nursing travelling abroad for preceptorship. 

• Created a resource tool to help frontline nurses find and access online, evidence-based resources to support practice. Also implemented surveys evaluating nurses’ current use of resources.

• Creation of a Patient Care Package on Cerebral palsy to give to parents as a resource, as well as researching an evaluation tool to see how easy it is to understand the created material.

• Creation of a checklist and appropriate forms that are needed to transfer a patient to an Independent Living Suite. 

• Helped revise the interview tool that is used to hire RNs and LPNs. The interview tool included questions to be asked to interviewees, comprehensive scenarios and how to score the answers. 

• Assisted a healthcare team with work on RN and LPN roles and responsibilities in pediatric clinics, information posters for the unit and the family room and documentation of various events and meetings.

• Creation of a decision tree to help the screeners determine if a patient should be screened positive, and if so, the proper steps to take thereafter.

Yes, you are expected to complete all of your leadership fieldwork hours.