Assessment and accountability: part 3 – sign-off mentors
Intended for healthcare professionals
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Assessment and accountability: part 3 – sign-off mentors

Trish Houghton Academic school coordinator (standards, enhancement and the learner experience) and senior lecturer, School of Health and Human Sciences, University of Bolton, Bolton, England

Assessment in clinical practice is a complex role undertaken by mentors and practice teachers. This article is the third of three articles about assessment in practice. Part one focused on the importance of assessment and identified assessment methods used in clinical practice, while part two discussed the importance of feedback and managing failing students. This article examines the concepts of responsibility and accountability as well as ethical issues for mentors and practice teachers in relation to the assessment process. The role of the sign-off mentor, the issue of due regard, and ethical principles are discussed. The meaning of competence and partnership working when making assessment decisions are explored. This article relates to the third domain and outcomes of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice on assessment and accountability.

Nursing Standard. 30, 49, 45-52. doi: 10.7748/ns.2016.e7964

Correspondence

T.A.Houghton@bolton.ac.uk

Peer review

All articles are subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 11 June 2013

Accepted: 13 February 2014

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