COVENTRY UNIVERSITY Faculty of Health and Life Sciences B - Guidelines for the attendance of midwifery students in theory and practice BACKGROUND (for cohorts commencing from October 2016 only) As a midwifery student, you must complete the curricular hours for theory and practice, in order to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. All absences are recorded as this process influences both the programme and any bursary payments (long programme) in the following ways: o Absences may result in you NOT achieving the minimum number of curricular hours and the programme outcomes. Records of both attendance and making up of absence are kept to ensure that these conditions are met. o Failure to notify absences could result in you receiving bursary payments to which you are not entitled. o A record of all sickness and absence is included in your reference on completion of the programme which if excessive could lead to difficulty in obtaining employment. Attendance is normally required at all planned theory and practice within the BSc (Hons) Midwifery Programme. Standard 5 Interruption in pre- registration midwifery programmes of education (NMC 2009) states that all absence must be made up. The student handbook includes information about absence due to sickness and you should ensure that you follow the required processes if you are unwell. Routine medical and other appointments should be made outside of timetabled theory sessions or clinical shifts. The university recognises that, on occasion, circumstances occur where you may need to be absent from a teaching session or clinical practice. In these circumstances, you should contact the Lead Midwife for Education and Course Director (Sue Lees) in advance to explain the reason for the request for authorised absence and present supporting information (for example, letter relating to hospital appointment or invitation to interview). If she is not available, another midwifery lecturer will assume responsibility for these matters. Circumstances in which authorised absence can be requested are included at the end of this guidance and copies have been forwarded to the NHS Trusts. If mentors and lecturers are asked about leaving a session or shift or presenting late, they will ask for evidence of authorisation by the LME. 1 - CLINICAL SHIFTS All students are supernumerary You are allocated to practice placements for at least 50% of your programme - the primary purpose of which is learning - and are supernumerary. You should be additional to the staff Page 1 of 6
normally rostered to the placement area and must not be regarded as being part of the numbers or workforce. Clinical placement in practice must be as stipulated in the allocation grid You must attend only the placements that have been allocated in advance. If a mentor is asked to work in another area, arrangements must be made for you to work with someone else in the original allocated area. In only exceptional circumstances may you accompany the mentor for the occasional shift if continuity of mentorship is felt to be beneficial for your learning. In these instances, your Academic in Practice at the university must be informed within 24 hours. You must not be asked to, or ask to move to other placement areas. You must work night duty only when it has been allocated and must not mix clinical day and night shifts during the same week. Night shifts must allow for at least 24 hours before or after a theory day. Students are expected to work the shifts identified by the clinical area Off- duty will be set in advance by the manager of the placement area and you are expected to work whatever shifts have been allocated to you, including late shifts and weekends. Weeks of night duty are allocated and set in advance. Occasional requests may be made to be off duty on specific dates in special circumstances, and to be on duty to enable students to attend planned caseloading appointments. In each case, the reason should be given. Other than in these circumstances, you must not write your own off- duty or request either to work or to avoid specific days of the week or specific shifts, eg early shifts on Sundays or late shifts on Fridays. If you work over your planned hours in order to complete care (eg to attend a birth) you must only do so with the agreement of your mentor and you must negotiate to take that extra time back at the next available opportunity, either by starting the next working day later or by finishing it earlier. The exact hours worked must be recorded (see Attendance Records on p3). If you are not due to be in placement again for some time for any reason (such as holiday), make it clear on your record which week you are planning to take the time back, and in that record, state the date that time owing refers to in the previous record. If time owing is not taken at the next available opportunity, it will be forfeited. If when in community you are with a mentor working some distance from base, the mentor is not expected to make a journey to return you before the day s work is completed. You should make your own arrangements for transport or else work later in these circumstances and take the excess time back at the next available opportunity. Excess hours worked cannot be accrued and compiled to take back whole days, and cannot be used to make up sickness and absence. While these hours are recorded on the placements database ARC, they will not count towards the hours required for completion of the programme. No period on duty should ever exceed 12 hours If you commenced your programme in or after 2016 you may be permitted, but are not obliged, to work 12 hour shifts. These cannot be demanded by you and are at the discretion Page 2 of 6
of the manager. Your period on duty, from entering to leaving the placement, must never exceed 12 hours. There must however be a period of at least 11 hours rest between shifts in any 24 hour period. Total hours worked in any shift by students commencing in 2016 or later include breaks, which must be taken The hours to be worked and recorded during each shift are those where you are on duty and must include the time taken for breaks. The start and finish time of an 8 or 12 hour working day should be set in advance and must allow a meal break of at least 30 minutes (or 1 hour for a 12 hours shift), following the shift patterns of the sponsoring or employing Trusts. You must take these breaks during the shift, both for your own health and safety and that of the mothers and babies in your care. Extra discretionary ( tea ) breaks may be taken at the mentors discretion and as the workload permits. Caseloading hours You should plan your antenatal caseloading hours to coincide with working shifts where possible, and submit a written request to the manager of the clinical area to be on duty at that time. Where this is not possible, the extra time worked must be taken back from the next shift at the next available opportunity. Caseloading hours, and time taken back, must be recorded and verified on the usual attendance record. Detail of the caseloading contacts should be recorded which should be shown to the mentor. The mentor should accept this as evidence of attendance for those hours when verifying the usual attendance records. 2 - ATTENDANCE RECORDS All students must submit attendance records by the submission dates stipulated Attendance records in midwifery allow for the recording up to 8 weeks attendance in placement and these can be downloaded from the programme web HLS- CF018. You are required to complete and submit an attendance record for every placement, even if it is a short allocation of only 2 weeks (eg the Neonatal Unit), and both sides of the form must be completed as you are required to sign page 2. You should cross out any unused weeks. It is expected that you arrive on duty punctually, and that each week you complete the number of shifts and hours determined by the allocations grid, and INCLUDING breaks. If you work longer than the stipulated hours, this must be recorded accurately, and if time is taken back at a subsequent shift this must be marked clearly to explain the shortfall of hours. Each shift must be verified by the mentor at the end of each shift, and you are required to sign the declaration of your attendance in the placement verified at the bottom of page 2. You must scan or take photocopies of these records for their own records and submit the originals to Assignment Handling Office by the dates set. Page 3 of 6
3 - SICKNESS AND ABSENCE Students must notify the university and placement area of sickness and absence If you are absent from placement for any reason, you must notify the placement area before the shift commences and also the university via the hotline on 024 7765 5926, or by e- mail to placementabsence.hls@coventry.ac.uk indicating if possible how long the absence is likely to last. You must also inform both your placement area and also the university as above when you are fit to return to practice. If this period is of 8 or more calendar days, you are expected to obtain a medical certificate and forward it to the Course Director, who will take a copy and return the original to you. Please note that the same procedure above also applies for absences from theory (university study days). Any request for authorised absence should be made by e- mail to the Lead Midwife for Education. You are reminded that NMC midwifery regulations require that any absences for any reason must be made up at a later date. In addition to the above, you should also inform your Academic Personal Tutor of any sickness or absence from theory or practice. It is not necessary to inform the Placements Co- ordinator. All make up shifts must be formally requested and subsequently approved by the university before being undertaken You must not make up any shifts or hours lost through sickness and absence without written authorisation from the Placements Co- ordinator. Any shifts worked without authorisation will not count and may be subject to further investigation. Make up shifts are permitted only during reading weeks or annual leave. Requests to make up a shift lost through sickness and absence must be made at least 7 days in advance to the midwifery placements co- ordinator, or another member of staff in her absence, by completing and e- mailing the proforma posted on the midwifery programme web (HLS CF018). The date must be agreed with the placement area beforehand so that specific dates are requested and approved. Attendance at a make- up shift must not be recorded on the usual attendance record, but instead be verified by the mentor on the authorised make- up request proforma. This should then be copied and the original submitted directly to the address on the bottom of the form. You may use reading weeks or annual leave to make up sickness and absence up to a maximum of 4 x 8hr shifts plus 1 x 5.5hr shift, or 37.5hrs per week in longer shifts. You may not use more than 50% of a period of annual leave to make up sickness and absence, to ensure you have the opportunity for adequate rest. Page 4 of 6
4 - QUERIES Any queries regarding attendance should be directed to the placements co- ordinator in the first instance. Any queries regarding your overall attendance record in ARC should be raised by appointment with your Academic Personal Tutor, only after checking your own copies of your attendance records. Obtaining Authorised Absence Reason for absence Duration Action to be taken Antenatal appointments Where possible should be arranged outside of timetabled activities or clinical practice Absence needs to be authorised in advance via the Paternity Leave Special appointments e.g. Hospital consultant; emergency dental Compassionate leave e.g. family death or immediate/sudden crisis Carers absence e.g. child sickness, dependent- related absence Attending a job interview Attendance as witness in criminal proceedings / Coroners Court/ jury service Variable depending on circumstance 3-5 days dependent upon relationship Variable Variable depending on circumstance Reasonable attendance for job interviews. Where possible should be arranged outside of timetabled theory or clinical practice. Variable NB. Routine appointments should be made outside of timetabled theory or clinical practice. Lead Midwife for Education or Course Director. When compulsory the Lead Midwife for Education or Associate Dean advised. Page 5 of 6
Attendance Guidelines in Midwifery Summary of differences in attendance requirements for differing cohorts of midwifery students Pre- 2016 entry Cohorts 9.13L, 9.14L, 9.15L 10.15s 2 days per week in placement for majority of the programme (excluding first community placement and final practice block) Clinical day shifts 2x7hrs in year 1 (long programme), 2x7.5hrs thereafter Students not permitted to work long days until final practice block Night shifts are 10 hours Length of clinical shifts DO NOT include breaks Maximum time on duty 12 hours Mostly 6 week placements Some non- practice grey weeks included in placement allocations Sickness and absence may be made up (with authorisation) during grey weeks as well as Reading Weeks and Annual leave 2016 entry onwards Cohorts 9.16L and later 10.16s and later 3 days per week in placement for majority of the programme (excluding first community placement and final practice block) Clinical day shifts 8 hrs throughout the programme Students ARE permitted to work 2 x 12hour shifts Night shifts are 12 hours Length of clinical shifts INCLUDE breaks Maximum time on duty 12 hours Mostly 4 week placements NO non- practice grey weeks exist in placement allocations Sickness and absence may be made up (with authorisation) only during Reading Weeks and Annual Leave Page 6 of 6