Recognising the potential: maximising meaningful learning in practice settings

In this symposium we critique conventional approaches to the support of learning in practice settings. In the context of the increasing complexity of health services and the consolidation of nursing as a graduate profession in the UK and internationally, we argue that these traditional approaches are not fit for purpose. Drawing in part on our experience at The Open University (OU) as a provider of part-time, distance learning pre-registration nurse education, the symposium proposes a more contemporary model of supporting learning in practice and identifies the implications for education, practice, commissioning and policy. Of relevance to practitioners, students, educationalists and commissioners, the objectives of the symposium are: • to problematise traditional constructions of how learning takes place in practice settings • to critically examine the key features of a high quality learning environment from the perspectives of students, mentors, employers and educationalists • to identify the implications for service, education, commissioning and policy