Practice hours

Practice learning accounts for 50% of nursing programme hours. Practice experience modules are accredited, and the assessments must be passed by achieving the identified summative outcomes by the end of the module. Practice modules are non-reassessable. Outcomes not met (unless due to lack of opportunity) by the published completion date must be achieved during the automatic extension period (within the first four weeks of the next practice experience or during a ‘retrieval placement’). These outcomes are outlined in the Electronic Ongoing Achievement Record (MYEPAD). Where sickness or other circumstances lead to a ‘lack of opportunity’ students can apply for extension as they would for a theory module. It is important to note that you will be required to meet all of the relevant practice assessment requirements for each stage of the programme. Failure to meet these requirements will mean that you are unable to progress to the next stage of the programme or to registration. 


It is very important that you keep up to date with your practice hours. Deficits in practice hours risk your opportunities to pass practice modules and ultimately to meet the 2,300 practice hours required for NMC registration. Where deficits arise, it is vital that you work with your Academic Assessor to develop a plan to retrieve the necessary practice hours.

Breaks

It is recognised that break times in clinical practice are often spent in personal or group reflections or discussion. Following consultation with the NMC, from September 2023 onwards only, you are permitted to include break times as practice hours. For example, a 9-5 shift with 30 minutes break can be submitted as 8 hours practice time. It is important to note that you should continue to ensure that scheduled breaks are taken to support your health and well-being in practice. Breaks can be taken in or away from the clinical environment, as facilities allow. 

Expectation of attendance

This is a professional programme with professional, statutory and regulatory requirements. You are expected to attend placements and complete the required hours as specified on the allocation document.  The allocation document can be found on the VLE site for your programme.

You are responsible for ensuring you undertake a varied shift pattern, which includes all of the 24 hour cycle of care. We recognise that some flexibility in practice hours can aid learning opportunities, however, please try to plan your attendance in discussion with Practice Assessors and Supervisors, to access the most appropriate learning opportunities. You may be exempt from some shift working if reasonable adjustments are in place due to disability or occupational health needs. If you have concerns about your shift pattern, you should discuss with your practice assessor in the first instance and if this remains unresolved contact your Practice Learning Link Team (dohs-pll@york.ac.uk).

We appreciate you may occasionally be unable to attend placement. If you are unable to attend you must:


Deficit hours cannot be made up during annual leave (unless this has been negotiated within ‘retrieval weeks’).


Should you need to make up missed hours due to absence, you must negotiate with your Academic Assessor, Practice Assessor or Practice Supervisor how you plan to make up the deficit. You should ensure that your deficit hour accumulation does not exceed 150 hours in stage 1 and 2 of the programme to ensure that you meet the progression requirements (please see above). 


To comply with the Maximum Weekly Working Hours (Gov.uk), you should not exceed 48 hours work per week (averaged over 17 weeks) in relation to University practice and theory.

Completion of attendance records

Making up deficits in practice hours due to sickness/absence on action plans

It is important that you avoid accruing a deficit in practice hours because you must achieve 2,300 hours of practice experience to meet the NMC (2018) requirements. Often it will be possible to make up hours on a current or future placement. If you have a deficit of 100 or more hours, you will be strongly advised to take a period of leave of absence from the programme to allow you to return to make up the deficit in practice hours, to enable you to complete the programme successfully. If leave of absence is not taken when advised it may be difficult for you to complete your programme as a programme extension and/or funding may not be approved.

The contribution of simulation to 'clinical training' practice hours

The education of nurses in the UK is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) who follow UK legislation Article 15(1) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001. This requires the NMC to establish standards for education and training which are necessary to achieve the standards of proficiency for admission to the register, as required by Article 5(2) of the Order. Nursing programmes in the UK must consist of a minimum of 4,600 hours; a minimum of 2,300 hours should be associated with clinical practice (NMC 2023). 

Learning in ‘simulated practice’ can contribute towards learning, skills development and formative feedback. Simulation can also be used to assess theoretical knowledge or psychomotor proficiency. The NMC (2023) define simulation based education broadly as:

“...an educational method which uses a variety of modalities to support students in developing their knowledge, behaviours and skills, with the opportunity for repetition, feedback, evaluation and reflection to achieve their programme outcomes and be confirmed as capable of safe and effective practice.”

At York we value the use of simulation in supporting learning in both “theoretical training” (theoretical education) and in “clinical training” (clinical/practice placement education). We take a constructivist approach to gradually and supportively exposing learners to new ways of learning. Specifically they are designed to help learners to meet employer and sector needs in terms of reaching NMC registration requirements. As such, learners on our programme will engage in a broad range of simulated learning experiences during theoretical and Knowledge Applied to Nursing Practice modules. This will include, but is not limited to practice based scenarios with ‘sim-patients’, skills practice in realistic scenarios, virtual reality based simulation, ludological learning and software platforms which replicate practice related situations. 

Simulated activities associated with the Knowledge Applied to Nursing Practice modules will largely count towards ‘Simulated Practice Learning’ hours. These sessions and activities are designed to offer learners the opportunity to: 

“...engage in immersive, interactive and experiential learning where they can hone their skills in a safe environment. This environment allows a student to repeat, feedback, evaluate and reflect on their practice, preparing them to deliver the safe, effective and kind nursing care expected of registered professionals and meets both the employer and sector needs.” (NMC 2023). 

Attendance at practice-related conferences and events

The NMC (2018) Standards for pre-registration nursing programmes require student nurses to undertake direct contact with patients to achieve the required NMC proficiencies for practice.

However, on occasion, students may have the opportunity to attend a practice-related conference or event. The Department recognises the value of these events and how they can contribute to your learning.

In discussion with your Practice Assessor or Practice Supervisor, attending such events may be relevant to your practice learning experience and to contribute to your achievement of NMC competencies. It may therefore be possible for you to attend the event and to count the time as practice hours.

If you wish to attend a practice-related conference or other event, and count the time as practice hours, you should negotiate this with your Practice Assessor or Practice Supervisor. You will need to identify the practice learning outcome or competency to which the event is linked, and include evidence of this in your E-OAR (MYEPAD).  Attending conferences or other events outside of practice placement blocks, will not be counted as practice hours.