Core area 3: The wider context

NMC Standards and PebblePad

1. Mechanisms for recording student progress against outcomes

Standards for pre-registration nursing and midwifery students are set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Nursing and midwifery students are required to complete performance outcomes ( in nursing) and competencies (in midwifery) during each practice experience which are then verified by their practice mentors. These standards form the basis of the portfolios that I provide for the students within PebblePad. The standards for pre-registration nursing education vary across the different fields of nursing taught at York (adult, child, learning disability and mental health). These are regularly changed so I ensure that the students have the relevant updated standards appropriate to their field and stage of the programme. Below are examples of the difference between the adult (left) and mental health (right) performance outcomes taken from the third year practice 5 workbook.

2. Managing mentors

Performance outcomes are assessed and verified in practice by registered practice mentors. These are healthcare professionals who complete training and become registered mentors so that they are certified to be able to assess nursing or midwifery students. When creating new accounts for mentors in PepplePad, I work closely with NHS Trusts to ensure these accounts reflect the register of mentors. This system has helped to ensure that a student’s work in PebblePad can only be verified by an active mentor. Mentor verification was not previously possible in the paper portfolio system. The process has helped to evidence that students are being supported and assessed by active registered mentors which complies with the standards set for assessment by the NMC.

3. Recording attendance

In addition to the NMC performance outcomes, students are also required to complete a minimum of 2300 practice hours to register as a nurse or a midwife. I create practice attendance records within each portfolio that allow for the documenting and mentor verification of practice hours, as well as the recording of sickness and absence. I ensure that the student's record is shared with the appropriate mentors, supervisors and administrative staff to allow for verification, monitoring and collation in adherence with NMC standards.

In reflection, I believe I’ve developed a robust system that guarantees that NMC standards and requirements are adhered to. The cross checking of mentor accounts against the mentor register has been commended in the Department’s recent periodic review, as it allows for improved record keeping and ensures that work is marked and verified by appropriate assessors. The one negative aspect of the process is that it is time consuming and requires a lot of administration to ensure that mentors and students are linked together in PebblePad. I have fed back ideas to the PebblePad developers on how I think the system can be improved. A new system is currently under development which will allow the student to choose their mentor from a pre-approved list. I then only need to ensure that the list in PebblePad reflects the mentor register and the students can then link themselves to their mentors. I hope that this will reduce the amount of administration time currently required in the mentor verification process.

I'm aware that a review of all the current NMC standards is underway and that new requirements will be released in 2018. This will require a large update of all the current course documentation contained within PebblePad. It is important that I continue to collaborate with the programme leaders to ensure that PebblePad reflects the outcomes and performance criteria required by the NMC and that users are made aware of the changes via the training that I deliver.

Information Governance, Data Protection and PebblePad

The Data Protection Act 1998 is the legislation that governs how the University uses and stores personal information. This legislation influences the processes that I put in place for the PepplePad users.

Use of personal information and maintaining confidentiality

Health Sciences has Department of Health Information Governance (IG) Toolkit approval. The aim of the IG toolkit is to demonstrate that an “organisation can be trusted to maintain the confidentiality and security of personal information” which “in turn increases public confidence that ‘the NHS’ and its partners can be trusted with personal data” (https://www.igt.hscic.gov.uk/about.aspx). Nursing and Midwifery students are required to complete annual mandatory training on information governance. They must also adhere to these rules when completing their electronic portfolios.

I place emphasis on confidentiality during the lessons I deliver, advising students of their requirement to maintain copyright and patient confidentiality when saving evidence to their portfolio. I have also included guidance on breaching confidentiality within the PebblePad student manual and included hyperlinks to this information on all workbook pages where evidence is required.

Keeping data safe from unauthorised access and accidental loss

The Data Protection Act also states that "Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data." It is my responsibility to add and remove accounts from the system, which could lead to the loss of work. To ensure that student's accounts are not deleted in error, I run completion reports from the University's student record system highlighting which student accounts require removal. Once an account is deleted in PebblePad the student has a 30 day period in which they can keep their work by creating an alumni account. I write to all students once their account is marked for deletion advising them of this.

To ensure authorised access to PebblePad, I create accounts using only University or NHS email addresses. I advise all users not to share their passwords with anyone so that appropriate levels of access are maintained in the system. By cross checking the mentor's details against the NHS Mentor Register I can guarantee that only professionals registered to assess students have the access to their work. I remove access once the practice assessment period is complete.

I have taken measures that I believe are appropriate to ensure that standards regarding information governance and data protection are adhered to. This is a complex area which requires ongoing awareness since legislative requirements can change. I will continue to adapt my practice in line with my annual data protection training as well as system reviews completed by the Department’s Information Governance and Departmental Data Protection Officer Byron George.