Placements

The Allocations Department assigns student nurses to their practical placements.

You can find out about your placement by looking at the Placement Directory. This will tell you about the NHS Trust you will be working in and will provide details about your allocated placement area.

You should contact your placement one or two weeks before you are due to attend.

What we do

• We ensure your academic and personal record is maintained. (This is done from class registers, portfolio documentation and by liaising with other staff and outside bodies).
• We arrange insurance cover for you while on placement.
• We provide information to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for your registration.
• We provide figures and statistics required by both staff and NHS personnel.

Please help us to keep your records up-to-date by informing us of the following:

• If you have changed address / phone number / email address.
• If you have changed your name; whether by marriage, divorce or deed poll.
• If you are off sick or absent from a placement or session at University.

Arranging clinical placements

• We negotiate your clinical placements with a variety of outside agencies in the Birmingham/Solihull area.
• All primary care placements (District Nurse, Health Visitor, School Nurse) are allocated outside your home area at the request of the Primary Care Trusts.

Please note: placements may be at any location across Birmingham and Solihull. An integral part of the course is to participate in care given over 24 hours; therefore, you will be expected to adopt the various shift patterns governed by your placement area.

You must notify us of any sickness or absence by telephoning the 24-hour answer line, 0121 331 7010.

Annual leave and Bank Holidays

These are subject to the following rules:

• Annual leave is predetermined while on the course.
• Bank holidays are included in your annual leave allowance. This means that you must work bank holidays if asked to do so by your placement.
• If your placement closes for Bank Holidays, you may take this time as a study day.
• Changes to annual leave can only be authorised by the Head of DPL and require four months' notice.

Contacting clinical placements

• It is your responsibility to make contact with a placement area following publication of the "Change List".
• Contact should be made two weeks prior to starting - and definitely not less than one week before. Placement areas welcome this early contact as it gives both parties an opportunity to address the many issues concerned with clinical experience.