The experience of preparing for and transitioning to registered practice

Students' experiences of their final placements may contribute to their ability to transition into registered practice and may help to prevent ‘reality shock’ and burnout, first described by Kramer (1974), which is still evident in recent years (Broad et al, 2011; Walsh, 2015).

The undergraduate nursing curriculum has been revised regularly over the past 50 years, and particularly since the introduction of university-based training in the form of Project 2000 (Bradshaw, 2001a). We are in the process of reinvigorating pre-registration training once again following the publication of the new Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards (NMC, 2018a; 2018b; 2018c; 2018d). The current mentor system will be replaced by supervisor and assessor roles, where all registered nurses will be expected to undertake a supervisor role supporting students in their day-to-day practice. Students can, however, be supervised by any registered health professional. The formal assessment role will be undertaken by two assessors, a practice assessor and an academic assessor, who will provide formal assessment of practice and academic achievements. Each year of the programme will require a different academic assessor just as each practice period will have a different practice assessor.