Publications by authors named "Louise A Hunt"
Developing a 'core of steel': the key attributes of effective practice assessors.
Br J Nurs
December 2019
Background: the Nursing and Midwifery Council has emphasised that its recently introduced standards for student supervision and assessment aim to 'ensure that no one gets onto the register who shouldn't be there'. A key element in achieving this is the new practice assessor role, implemented to bolster practical assessment processes.
Aim: to identify the key personal characteristics of robust practice assessors who are prepared to fail underperforming students.
Article Synopsis
- There is increasing concern that a culture of expectation among nursing students is leading to narcissistic behavior, including disrespect and rudeness towards university lecturers.
- The paper examines whether this negative behavior extends to interactions with mentors during practical placements, especially when students fail to meet performance standards.
- It identifies four types of coercive behaviors used by nursing students—ingratiators, diverters, disparagers, and aggressors—that create fear and guilt in mentors, and discusses strategies to improve relationships and assessment processes.
Article Synopsis
- Mentors often hesitate to fail underperforming student nurses due to concerns about their fitness to practice, prompting a study to explore their experiences in these assessments.
- The research involved interviews with 31 nurses in England, revealing that mentors rely on a mix of informal support systems and a three-stage decision-making process to confidently fail students when necessary.
- Key supportive figures in this process include the mentor's partner and practice education facilitators, highlighting the importance of emotional backing in making tough assessment decisions.
This study was undertaken in response to concerns raised by Duffy (2003) that assessors of practice were reluctant to fail student nurses in assessments. This generated doubts about the fitness to practice of some registered nurses. An investigation was undertaken into whether quantitative evidence supported the view that pre-registration nurses rarely failed practical assessments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article examines the progress made by the University of Central England (UCE) over the last 18 months in implementing Health Service Circular 1999/219; the government document that contains guidance on the main points that had to be included in new pre-registration nursing curricula. Sixteen pilot sites were chosen to implement the new curriculum and UCE was one of these. The key focus of the curriculum being implemented is to draw practice and theory more closely together.
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