Facilitator Guideline - NNA

Clinical Facilitation
Network Nursing Agency
Placement of Students on to Allocated Wards:
Escort the students to their allocated ward and introduce them to the NUM/CNE and staff as
appropriate. Typically, facilitators will have students allocated to numerous wards within one
facility; it is ideal to place the students onto the ward with someone to orientate them and then
go back to check they have been allocated to a staff member or ‘buddied’ up satisfactorily.
Allocation of students to staff will be largely dependent on the skill mix of ward staff, staffing
numbers, whether or not the ward has an available CNE and managers present for the shift.
Students should be allocated to a registered nurse for each shift, however, in some cases it may
be appropriate for students to be allocated to staff other than a Registered Nurse.
The allocation of students to new graduate registered nurses should occur with caution, as new
graduates are novice practitioners and still seeking/requiring supervision themselves. They can
also at times feel overwhelmed having the extra workload that comes with supervising student
nurses. This said, new graduate nurses can provide encouragement and insight to students
about their newly chosen career which is often beneficial to students. If allocation does occur
where students are ‘buddied’ with new graduates, more complex tasks for example, medication
administration should be done with either a more senior nurse or the ward CNE.
Dependant on the year of study, it may also be necessary and appropriate for students to be
‘buddied’ to enrolled nurses. Students should ideally not be ‘buddied’ with assistants in nursing
(AINs). There may be exceptions to this, for instance, in Aged Care facilities where most of the
staff are AINs supervised by only 1 or 2 RNs.
Ensure that:
Either yourself or ward staff have orientated the students’ to the ward
Students each have a ward handover for the day, and have an understanding of
abbreviations used in handover to a level expected for their year of study
Each student understands the diagnosis of each patient they are allocated to care for
each day
You have discussed the students objectives and goals with the supervising RN/CNE
Ensure students and supervising staff have a clear understanding of their scope of
practice and that students know what to do if they are unsure
Students know who they are ‘buddied’ with for each shift and have a clear
understanding of that staff member’s level of experience (i.e. AIN, new graduate, RN,
CNS and CNE).
Ensure both students and supervising staff, CNEs, NUMS have your contact details and
obtain for yourself the contact numbers for the ward/unit and any key contacts
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