New report released exploring work-integrated learning for nursing students

Last year, Head of Nursing Professor Marie Gerdtz led a special launch event presenting the findings and recommendations of a comprehensive study exploring how clinical placement programs contribute to student learning and health system function.

We are pleased to share with you a summary of the report and a recording of the launch event below.

View Report Summary

Nursing students have made valuable contributions to health systems throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, taking on additional responsibilities to ensure patient-centred care continued during a time of increased health system stress. However, the clinical placement programs designed to ensure students meet the standards required for registration can at times fail to realise the demonstrated potential of nursing students, and continue to lead to a wide variation in learning and patient care outcomes. The aim of the report was to understand how the benefits and burdens of clinical placements are experienced by key stakeholders, with the hope of working towards addressing these shortcomings.

Among other key recommendations, the report calls upon universities and health services to enter partnerships to develop enhanced clinical placement programs, and clearly articulates the need for a more coherent work-integrated learning curriculum. It offers potential roadmaps towards a clinical placement experience that not only improves student learning outcomes, but also advances student contributions to health system function. Education providers, health service providers and nursing students will find the report of particular interest.

The report was sponsored in part by the University of Melbourne and the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (Australia and New Zealand), alongside RMIT University, the University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University and Central Queensland University.