8 Useful terms

Buddy midwife or nurse: A midwife or nurse who you work alongside for a shift. Usually a shift-by-shift basis.

Clinical Facilitator: A clinical facilitator is a midwife or nurse employed by or contracted to the university to assist with the smooth running of your placement. They ensure you are have a preceptor or buddy, and that you are progressing with your clinical assessment portfolio and achieving your objectives.

Clinical Nurse Educator: The clinical nurse educator is a senior nurse employed by the health facility who acts as a role model, preceptor or mentor for less experienced nurses. Their aim is to facilitate the development of clinical expertise and decision making in a specialty area of practice. A part of their role may be oversight of undergraduate nursing placements.

Clinical Supervisor: Clinical Supervisors are employed by educational institutions to support, teach and assess groups of students. The clinical supervisor works in conjunction with preceptors to support, teach and assess students over the clinical placement.

Learning Agreement: An agreement negotiated between you and the Unit Coordinator to address gaps in knowledge or skill with your supervisor while on clinical placement. Your supervisor must be made aware of the Learning Agreement and it must be included in your Clinical Assessment Portfolio submission.

Preceptor: A preceptor is a registered nurse or midwife working in practice for a longer period than for a “buddy”. They have undertaken specific preparation for the role of supervision, clinical teaching, assessment and the provision of feedback to students, usually for the full length of the clinical placement.

Mentoring: Often regarded as a relationship over time between an experienced clinician who creates opportunities for the student to obtain skills and knowledge, and is socialized into the clinical setting.