Australian clinician's views on interprofessional education for students in the rural clinical setting
- Authors: Jacob, Elisabeth , Barnett, Tony , Missen, Karen , Cross, Dorothy , Walker, Lorraine
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Research in Interprofessional Practice and Education Vol. 2, no. 2 (2012 2012), p. 219-229
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- Description: Background: Collaboration between education providers and clinical agencies to develop models that facilitate cross-disciplinary clinical education for students is essential to produce work-ready graduates. Methods and Findings: This exploratory study investigated the perceptions of and opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE) from the perspectives of 57 clinical staff from three regional/rural health services across Victoria, Australia. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire, interviews, and focus group discussions with staff from 15 disciplinary groups who were responsible for clinical education. Although different views emerged on what IPE entailed, it was perceived by most clinicians to be valuable for students in enhancing teamwork, improving the understanding of roles and functions of team members, and facilitating common goals for patient care. While benefits of IPE could be articulated by clinicians, student engagement with IPE in clinical areas appeared to be limited, largely ad hoc, and opportunistic. Barriers to IPE included: timing of students’ placements, planning and coordination of activities, resource availability, and current regulatory and education provider requirements. Conclusions: Without the necessary resources and careful planning and coordination, the integration of IPE as a part of students’ clinical placement experience will remain a largely untapped resource.
Expanding the clinical placement capacity of rural hospitals in Australia: Displacing Peta to place Paul?
- Authors: Barnett, Tony , Walker, Lorraine , Jacob, Elisabeth , Missen, Karen , Cross, Dorothy , Shahwan-Akl, Lina
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 32, no. 5 (2012), p. 485-489
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- Description: In order to identify opportunities to build capacity for clinical placements, we mapped and described the organisation of student placements at three hospitals, each with multiple education providers, in rural Victoria, Australia. Using a cross-sectional, mixed method design, data were collected by survey, interviews and discussion with student placement coordinators representing 16 clinical health disciplines.Teaching and supporting students was regarded as an important part of the service each hospital provided and a useful staff recruitment strategy. There were peaks and troughs in student load over the year, though this was less marked for medicine and dentistry than for nursing and allied health disciplines. Whilst placements were managed largely on a discipline basis, each hospital had taken steps to communicate information about student placements across disciplines and to identify opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE).Placement capacity could be increased by sharing placement data within hospitals, smoothing the utilisation patterns across the year, capitalising on opportunities for IPE when there is concurrent placement of students from different disciplines, and through better employment of underutilised clinical areas. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Interprofessional clinical education: clinicians' views on the importance of leadership
- Authors: Missen, Karen , Jacob, Elisabeth , Barnett, Tony , Walker, Lorraine , Cross, Dorothy
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Collegian: Journal of the Royal College of Nursing Australia Vol. 19, no. 4 (2012), p. 189-195
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- Description: The current shortage of health professionals necessitates new approaches to clinical education that can expand the number of undergraduate students undertaking clinical placements without increasing the burden on clinical staff or placing patients at risk. Interprofessional education has the potential to help increase clinical capacity whilst enriching students’ clinical experience. This paper reports on a project which investigated the potential for interprofessional education to increase undergraduate clinical placement capacity in clinical settings. The project utilised an exploratory descriptive methodology to obtain the views of health care professionals about the use of interprofessional education in clinical education at three rural health facilities in Victoria, Australia. Participants (n = 57) had a key role with each health care facility in coordinating and facilitating undergraduate clinical placements. This paper examines the clinicians’ views about the central role that leadership plays in actioning interprofessional education in the clinical setting. Whilst interprofessional education was regarded favourably by the majority of participants, data indicated that leadership from education providers, health services, and regulatory authorities was crucial to enable interprofessional education to be implemented and sustained within the clinical learning environment. Without leadership from each of these three spheres of influence, interprofessional education will continue to be difficult to implement for undergraduate students and compromise their exposure to an important aspect of the working life of health care professionals. Such a failure will limit graduates’ readiness for collaborative and cross-disciplinary practice.
Practice priorities for acute care nursing : a Delphi study
- Authors: Connell, Clifford , Plummer, Virginia , Crawford, Kimberley , Endacott, Ruth , Foley, Pieternella , Griffiths, Debra , Innes, Kelli , Schwerdtle, Patricia , Walker, Lorraine , Morphet, Julia
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Clinical Nursing Vol. 29, no. 13-14 (2020), p. 2615-2625
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- Description: Aims and objectives: To describe the risk and frequency of challenges in acute care nursing, and the practice priorities in Australian hospital wards based upon expert consensus. Background: Health care is facing increasing demands that are negatively impacting upon the safety and quality of nursing care. Design: Delphi Method. Method: A three-round electronic Delphi method was used to collect and synthesise expert consensus opinion of 30 participants in Rounds One and Two of the survey, and 12 participants in Round Three. The study was carried out from July to December 2016. This study complied with the STROBE checklist. Results: High patient acuity or complexity, as well as inadequate bed space on wards, are “very high” risks that occur “often” and “very often,” respectively. The pressure to admit patients, delayed medical review and patient boarding are all “high” risks that occur “often.” Though only occurring “sometimes,” inadequate numbers and skill mix of staff, suboptimal communication and early or inappropriate discharge all pose a “very high” risk to patient care. Conclusion: The key practice priorities for nurse managers should include the design, implementation and evaluation of sustainable system-wide frameworks, processes and models of care that address patient boarding, communication and discharge processes, job satisfaction, staffing numbers and expertise. Relevance to clinical practice: This study provides a description of the challenges that face acute care nursing in the provision of safe and high-quality care. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Preparing student nurses for healthcare reform
- Authors: Barnett, Tony , Sellick, Kenneth , Cross, Merylin , Walker, Lorraine , James, Ainsley , Henderson, Tamie
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Focus on Health Professional Education Vol. 14, no. 1 (2012), p. 23-24
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- Description: This research aimed to determine how clinical agencies and universities can best prepare student nurses to develop the capability to contribute to healthcare reform. A list of desirable reform capabilities (graduate attributes) was developed and validated. A case study approach was used and interviews conducted with personnel at six clinical agencies in Victoria and South Australia to assess the extent to which student nurses achieved or were likely to achieve these capabilities and to identify strategies that would assist their development. As a significant component of the healthcare workforce, nurses are positioned to play a critical role in healthcare reform. A major challenge facing the profession is how best to prepare nurses and equip them with the skills and attributes necessary to contribute to the reform agenda. Nine reform capabilities were identified. Some were more likely to be achieved than others during undergraduate preparation. Strategies were identified to assist the development of each capability though a number of challenges were also identified by participants. These related to: university–agency relationships, the clinical learning environment, student–graduate transition, curriculum and organisational culture. The research concluded that graduate nurses are unlikely to demonstrate all nine capabilities on initial entry into the workforce. If these are regarded as desirable attributes for beginning practitioners, universities and clinical agencies need to develop and implement more effective strategies to support their development during undergraduate preparation. [Author abstract]