Upskilling Australian registered nurses to enhance students’ clinical placement experiences: A A contemporary discussion

Objective: To present and discuss options for upskilling registered nurse supervisors to ultimately improve the quality and consistency of nursing student placements. Background: Many studies have examined clinical learning in nursing, with evidence that student learning and registered nurse clinical supervision experiences can be improved. An independent review of nursing education in Australia confirmed gaps in the preparation and support of supervising registered nurses that may negatively impact students’ learning. Study design and methods: This paper discusses contemporary insights around 1) the current situation in Australian nursing student clinical placements regarding learning, 2) registered nurse clinical supervisor experiences and 3) professional options for recognising role excellence, offered by Australian and international nursing and healthcare specialities. Discussion: Nursing students’ placement experiences are at times sub-optimal. One way to improve learning experiences could be to offer clinical supervisors professional development programs. Now is the time to consider a certification process to recognise excellence in registered nurses’ education capabilities and to better support students’ clinical learning. Conclusion: Upskilling registered nurses for clinical supervision may be assisted through formal and informal education programs specific to the professional nursing context in Australia. Implications for research policy and practice: Upskilling registered nurse clinical supervisors should be a priority on the national agenda of improving students’ clinical learning experiences. This commentary provides contemporary insights to the current situation regarding Australian students’ clinical placement and supervisor experiences. The ways that some nursing specialities recognise excellence in practice are discussed as options for improving clinical supervision. What is already known about the topic • Nursing students’ clinical placements need improvement; students continue to report less than optimal experiences. • There are no requirements in Australia for registered nurse clinical supervisors to undertake assessment of capability for the role. • National and international processes exist to recognise supervisor capabilities and role excellence. What this paper adds • Options for recognising capability and practice excellence in nursing clinical supervision. • A discussion around clinical supervisors engaging with formal and informal education and processes that recognise excellence in role capabilities

The Nominal Group Technique: Generating consensus in nursing research

The purpose of this article is to describe the Nominal Group Technique and its application as a consensus-generating approach in nursing research. The approach incorporates face-to-face meetings to explore opinions, generate ideas and determine priorities. We illustrate and explain the Nominal Group Technique process based on a study designed to develop a nursing student clinical placement (clinical practicum) evaluation tool. Advantages of the approach include creative face-to-face discussions with minimal resource demands. The Nominal Group Technique is beneficial and can be used to achieve consensus in nursing research, but a lack of anonymity may preclude the process in some investigations

Measuring the quality of nursing clinical placements and the development of the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) in a mixed methods co-design project

Background: The quality of nursing clinical placements has been found to vary. Placement evaluation tools for nursing students are available but lack contemporary reviews of clinical settings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a feasible, valid and reliable clinical placement evaluation tool applicable to nursing student placements in Australia. Methods: An exploratory mixed methods co-design project. Phase 1 included a literature review; expert rating of potential question items and Nominal Group Technique meetings with a range of stakeholders for item development. Phase 2 included on-line pilot testing of the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) with 1263 nursing students, across all year levels at six Australian Universities and one further education college in 2019–20, to confirm validity, reliability and feasibility. Results: The PET included 19-items (rated on a 5-point agreement scale) and one global satisfaction rating (a 10-point scale). Placements were generally positively rated. The total scale score (19 items) revealed a median student rating of 81 points from a maximum of 95 and a median global satisfaction rating of 9/10. Criterion validity was confirmed by item correlation: Intra-class Correlation Co-efficient ICC =.709; scale total to global score r =.722; and items to total score ranging from.609 to.832. Strong concurrent validity was demonstrated with the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision Scale (r =.834). Internal reliability was identified and confirmed in two subscale factors: Clinical Environment (Cronbach’s alpha =.94) and Learning Support (alpha =.96). Based on the short time taken to complete the survey (median 3.5 min) and students’ comments, the tool was deemed applicable and feasible. Conclusions: The PET was found to be valid, reliable and feasible. Use of the tool as a quality assurance measure is likely to improve education and practice in clinical environments. Further international evaluation of the instrument is required to fully determine its psychometric properties. © 2020, The Author(s)

The Nominal Group Technique: Generating consensus in nursing research

The purpose of this article is to describe the Nominal Group Technique and its application as a consensus-generating approach in nursing research. The approach incorporates face-to-face meetings to explore opinions, generate ideas, and determine priorities. The nominal group technique process, which is based on a study designed to develop a nursing student clinical placement (clinical practicum) evaluation tool, is described. Advantages of the approach include creative face-to-face discussions with minimal resource demands. The nominal group technique is beneficial and can be used to achieve consensus in nursing research, but a lack of anonymity may preclude the process in some investigations. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(2):65-67.]. Copyright 2020, SLACK Incorporated