Background: health professionals' attitudes towards self-harming behaviour are predominantly negative. Research examining educational interventions to change negative attitudes is limited. Aims: this study aimed to provide an educational intervention for student nurses to change negative attitudes around self-harm. Methods: attitudes around self-harm and mental health in general were assessed through the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale and the Mental Health Attitude Scale. Fifty-five adult nursing students took part in the 45–minute intervention. This included facts and figures, celebrity stories and personal stories regarding self-harm, all intended to increase understanding. Findings: after the intervention, attitudes measured by the Self-Harm Antipathy Scale had improved significantly. Conclusion: patients who self-harm will without doubt continue to experience negative attitudes from health professionals. This study shows an educational intervention can change attitudes towards those who self-harm.

Background: Service user involvement (SUI) in educating healthcare professionals in higher education can help student nurses develop a compassionate approach to care practice. This article explains one university's initiative, the Patient as Coach Team (PaCT), and presents evaluation results from phase 1. The PaCT strategy involved a service user led session and with student nurses, in small groups, sharing experiences of care from a service user perspective. Aim: To evaluate nursing students' views of the PaCT session, involving service users in their teaching and learning. Design: Survey. Method: Structured questionnaires with a free text box were completed by student nurses (n=321). Structured question responses were analysed manually and free text data thematically. Data collection took place from June 2016-June 2017. Results: There were very positive responses to the survey questions, with students perceiving a positive impact on their learning. Five themes emerged from the students' free text responses: 'Usefulness of the session', 'Seeing patients' perspectives', 'Inspiring and motivating session', 'Good discussions with patient coach', and 'overall views about the PaCT session'. Conclusion: The PaCT session provides a valid learning strategy utilising coaching as a technique to enable student nurses to learn from service users' experiences and perspectives of care. In addition, it contributes to students' reflective practice about their individual professional practice in care settings.

Assessment in clinical practice is a complex role undertaken by mentors and practice teachers. Therefore, this and the following two articles in this series will explore student assessment in clinical practice and the theoretical concepts that relate to assessment of learning and development. This article examines the importance of assessment and the role of mentors and practice teachers in this activity. Definitions and the purpose of assessment are analysed, in addition to various assessment methods used in clinical practice that relate 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.

This is the first article in a series of 11 that will offer guidance to new and existing mentors and practice teachers to enable them to develop in their role and help them to gather a portfolio of evidence that meets the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice (SSLAP). This article provides background to the development of the standards and outlines the SSLAP, including the four main stages of the framework, the eight domains and outcomes, and the five principles required for the roles of mentor, sign-off mentor and practice teacher. The requirements for maintaining the mentor and practice teacher roles are explored.

The previous article in this series of 11, Facilitation of learning: part 1, reviewed learning theories and how they relate to clinical practice. Developing an understanding of these theories is essential for mentors and practice teachers to enable them to deliver evidence-based learning support. This is important given that effective learning support is dependent on an educator who possesses knowledge of their specialist area as well as the relevent tools and methods to support learning. The second domain of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice relates to the facilitation of learning. To fulfil this domain, mentors and practice teachers are required to demonstrate their ability to recognise the needs of learners and provide appropriate support to meet those needs. This article expands on some of the discussions from part 1 of this article and considers these from a practical perspective, in addition to introducing some of the tools that can be used to support learning.