Preparing newly qualified staff to support learning: Using peer-to-peer learning to develop clinical support skills during pre-registration

Introduction The transition from student to practitioner can be a source of stress for newly qualified staff, with some research suggesting that there may be challenges when they are required to support others in their role.  To support part of this transition a peer-to-peer mentoring session was developed to enable 3rd year BSc (Hons) diagnostic radiography students to support students and staff once qualified.  
Method & Materials The sessions were structured to allow the 3rd year students to take the lead in eight clinical skills sessions, traditionally delivered by 2-3 academic staff, to 1st year diagnostic radiography students.  A member of academic staff was available for support.  Prior to supporting these sessions the 3rd year students were prepared for this using a student-centred flipped classroom approach.  This includes a pre-reading video podcast and journal article, which was then augmented with a seminar.  All students were then encouraged to contribute to a reflective learning journal.  Following the clinical skills sessions, students were expected to provide evidence of competence in giving feedback during their final clinical placement. 

Results The implementation highlights a number of different issues.  The increase in responsibility and accountability is a major source of stress during the transition period and the implementation of these sessions could help reduce some of the stress associated with supporting learning in practice.  The sessions also appeared to help with students’ confidence, which is important as previous research has highlighted self-perception of knowledge as impacting on the transition of students to practitioners. 

Conclusion & Discussion The aim of the sessions and the final assessment via competency statements was to sensitize the 3rd year students to supporting other students once they were fully qualified.  This has face-validity in terms of being constructively aligned to what students will undertake in practice once qualified, aligning with both the College of Radiographers Scope of Practice and the Standards of Proficiency for Radiographers from the Health and Care Professions Council.