Role modelling as a teaching method for student mentors.

Nurses, midwives and health visitors working as mentors are required to help their students to develop both competence and confidence in their practice. Faced with increasing workloads, practitioners need to consider alternative approaches to teaching and learning. Role modelling may be the most appropriate approach because it enables students to work alongside practitioners. However, it is often underused. This article outlines positive and negative role-modelling behaviours using moving and handling to illustrate a framework for this.