Auditing the clinical placement experience

Abstract

Purpose: An audit process was developed to enable the evaluation of clinical education in undergraduate radiography. The audit tools were designed to evaluate the delivery of clinical education against identified standards and criteria that evolved from a framework of generic quality measures. This paper will report the findings of the audit process in respect of the perceived performance of clinical education support staff as determined by first and second year students. Additionally it will confirm the effectiveness of the audit process in monitoring and developing standards within radiography education.Methods: A quality process based on the adult learning model was introduced in 1992. The initial informal quality process was formalized in 1996 as a retrospective organizational audit. Tools were developed to: i. evaluate and monitor students' experience and satisfaction with the clinical education component of the course; ii. evaluate and monitor the clinical staffs' satisfaction with the clinical education component of the course; iii. update the information held about clinical sites.Results: All sites have the facilities necessary to ensure appropriate clinical education and training for students. In evaluating the support for students within the clinical education situation the performance of the key groups of staff were shown to be influential and interrelated. The cultures of the clinical department and the effectiveness of the clinical lecturer within the clinical department were pivotal in the students' perception of quality. Achievement of standards varied within and between clinical sites demonstrating that the audit tools were able to discriminate objectively between acceptable and unacceptable standards and performances in the clinical education programme.Conclusions: The involvement of as wide a range of staff as possible in the monitoring process has confirmed that the audit of clinical placements is an effective tool that can be used successfully in radiographic education.