Finding suitable cases to sign off evidence for your NPL may prove difficult in practice. However, there are some alternative solutions to help overcome these problems.
Firstly, if you are struggling to obtain a particular case/skill, where applicable, you can carry out a simulation based on a relevant OSCE task. This can then be referenced on the NPL and the completed OSCE sheet kept with the student’s records as evidence.
If the skill does not relate to an OSCE task then where possible, a simulation should be carried out on a real patient. For instance, if you need a particular X-ray position then whilst a patient is in for another x-ray and the films are being developed, you could position the animal for the view that you need. This should only be done where no harm will come to the patient in question and the SVN/Clinical Coach need to ensure that on the NPL they state the reason why the animal was really in the practice and that a simulation was carried out that did not affect the animal’s condition or welfare.
Likewise, if you are struggling for bandaging cases, you could bandage a patient’s leg whilst it is having,for example, a dental. Alternatively, you could also use a willing staff member’s pet.
Where it is not possible to use a real patient, then a simulation/ role play should be used and there are set guidelines for these. The clinical coach and SVN should try and make the role play as real as possible and it should be documented on the NPL and in Tutorial Records (which should include the rationale).
Guidance for the use of set tasks, role play and models can be found here.
Please contact your QAS regarding any individual skills/ tasks or any further queries you may have.