Description
Promotional abstract: In response to growing challenges to secure clinical placements for pre-registration nursing students, the University of Huddersfield has broken new ground with a unique sequence of online simulated practice learning packages (SPL).Students value the opportunity to practice skills in a safe environment, learn about different patient experiences and deepen knowledge on common conditions, develop team-working skills, gain digital confidence and personal and professional non-technical skills.
This presentation will focus on successes and challenges in delivering SPL and how we use Student voice, informed by published literature to guide iterations to placement content, delivery and competency assessment.
Summary: Introduction
In response to growing challenges to secure clinical placements for pre-registration nursing students, the University of Huddersfield has broken new ground with a unique sequence of online simulated practice learning packages (SPL). The SPL was developed via a working group and coordinated via the core inter-professional team. The successful development and delivery of the SPL, including NMC approval, was due to collaborations with a wide variety of relevant people: clinical staff and practice educators, software developers, technology-enhanced learning leads, academics, Nursing students, students from different disciplines (Media and Drama), service users and carers, health care equipment manufacturers and local council colleagues.
Positioning within current literature or recent trends
Learning in ‘real’ clinical environments is essential and important for student nurses but there is evidence that healthcare students can learn effectively via SPL. (Watson et al., 2012, Bland et al., 2014, Mills et al., 2016, Akselbo et al., 2019, Bogogssian et al, 2019, Williams et al., 2022).
SPL builds on sound pedagogical principles of experiential learning (Kolb, 1984, Fry et al., 2015), enabling students to contextualise their learning and focus on clinical situations in a safe environment, practising skills; analysing the rationale for, and consequences of, nursing actions individually and with their peers. The virtual nature of the activities allows for wide availability, time flexibility, single or multiple-use interaction and self-pacing, all of which are important considerations in design (Hunn, 2018, Havola et al., 2021, Tinoco et al., 2021). As an educational method, SPL improves nursing students’ knowledge, communication and critical thinking skills as well as technical skills (Dubovi, Levy and Dagan, 2018, Linn, Caregnato and de Souza, 2019). The placements have been active for over 2-years and are iterated following student feedback and evaluations, both at the end of the placement and impact of learning and applicability to clinical practice during their subsequent clinical placement. The evaluations draw on the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model (2006) as well as Bowyer and Chamber’s (2017) framework for evaluating blended learning.
Key findings from innovation
Students value the opportunity to practice skills in a safe environment, learn about different patient experiences and deepen knowledge on common conditions, develop team-working skills, gain digital confidence and personal and professional non-technical skills.
Our work has been reported at conferences and we have a manuscript under review with the British Journal of Nursing. This presentation will focus on how we use Student voice, informed by published literature (Chan et al., (2019), Day and Beard, (2019), Mackay et al., (2021)) to guide iterations to placement content, delivery and competency assessment.
What lessons delegates will learn from the session?
Successes and challenges in delivering simulated practice learning.
Innovations in learning and responding to student voice.
Why this topic is relevant to the healthcare sector?
Placement content and iterations for improvement are transferable to other institutions and have the potential to support curriculum and continuing professional development and education across disciplines and the international community. The Huddersfield model is an approach to embedding simulated practice learning that can be tested at other universities.
| Period | 5 Dec 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event title | NETworking & Innovation in Healthcare Education Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Liverpool, United KingdomShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |