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Long arm supervision is a process whereby a supervisor takes responsibility for and provides support to an individual at a distance. Long arm supervision must be in line with the appropriate professional body requirements.
Long arm supervisors should discuss a learning plan with the student at the beginning of their placement and arrange dates of future meetings to enable the supervisor to assess the student’s competence.
Long arm supervision should provide:
Professional support
Professional support
To assist the student and encourage progress
Varied supervision delivery
Varied supervision delivery
Supervisions are flexible and can be delivered in a way that is best for both parties
Onsite supervisors
Onsite supervisors
Students still recieve day to day supervision and support via the onsite supervisor
Benefits
Benefits
Supports the development of placement scope capacity,
Increases the number of students that can be taken on by one supervisor,
Up-skills the feedback loop,
Increases student independence,
Encourages student time management,
Increases students' confidence in own ability,
Allows rotational opportunities,
Can reduce the demand on the supervisor when compared to traditional models.
(NHS, 2022).
Potential Barriers
Potential Barriers
Students may feel unsupported perhaps due to being used to 1:1 models of supervision.
Some students may prefer face to face supervision as opposed to online or via telephone.
Therefore, increased awareness and knowledge on supervision and the student you're working with can help to reduce these barriers and ensure students get the most out of their time with you.
More general support for supervisions may be found on the Supervisor Support page.
AHP's and Tutors from Queen Margaret University share information on what Long Arm Supervision is and how to implement it. It is led by Occupational Therapists but is relevant to all AHP’s considering using long arm supervision for practice learning and has some helpful tips.
The Long Arm Supervision Process
This flowchart demonstrates the long arm supervision process as explained by a long arm supervisor here at SHU.
Pre-placement catch up or in first few days or commencing placement: This is to discuss what to expect for this placement and highlighting our role as facilitators of their learning through providing some perspective on how their research / leadership experience relates with their clinical practice.
Set up a shared folder for students. Here, students can share their reflections and evidence their work.
Set up a weekly meeting.
Midway feedback along with the supervisor and student’s Academic Advisor.
Final feedback along with the supervisor and student’s Academic Advisor.
Post placement catch up to continue to refine the support process.
Above is a link to the HCPC website for guidance for supervisors. although not all of it is relevant to long arm supervision specifically, there are important tips available to help guide practitioners through the supervision process.
References:
NHS. (2022). Clinical placement supervision models. Available at: https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/clinical-placement-supervision-models
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