Implementing dedicated education units in 6 European undergraduate nursing and midwifery students clinical placements

Sara Pedregosa,Małgorzata Stefaniak,Adelaida Zabalegui,Fisun Şenuzun,Mariana Pereira,Ester Risco,Sandra Martin,Núria Fabrellas

doi:10.1186/s12912-021-00576-5

Abstract

BackgroundUndergraduate students’ clinical experience, working directly with patients and the healthcare team is essential to ensure students acquire the necessary competence for practice. There are differences in the quality of clinical environments and in students’ clinical placement experiences and not all clinical sites are optimal learning environments. The Dedicated Education Unit clinical education model allows students to develop the practical knowledge, skills and professionalism they will need as nurses/midwives.MethodsWe employed the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to identify and compare barriers and facilitators in the implementation of the Dedicated Education Unit in 6 European undergraduate nursing/midwifery student clinical placement settings and to describe the experience of nurses/midwives involved in the Dedicated Education Unit model implementation and evaluation. A pre-post implementation interpretive assessment was based on participants’ responses to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research construct questions.ResultsAlthough Dedicated Education Unit model implementation in our project was heterogeneous, no main implementation barriers were perceived. Qualitative data showed that educational-service collaboration, including a focus on mutual goals, organizational communication and networking, satisfaction of educational and healthcare professionals, and the establishment of a safe space for professional discussion and feedback, were considered facilitators.ConclusionsThis study describes the key elements guiding educational and healthcare stakeholders in Dedicated Education Unit implementation, engaging participants in the entire process, and offering other organizations the opportunity to consider the benefits of this clinical education model.

Highlights

Undergraduate students’ clinical experience, working directly with patients and the healthcare team is essential to ensure students acquire the necessary competence for practice
The main goal of the Bologna Declaration was to standardize European Higher Education, differences still exist in nursing curriculum implementation in Europe
As students’ clinical placement (CP) represents more than 50% of nursing degree hours [3], it is vital to assist institutions and participants to deal with these issues

Summary

Introduction

Undergraduate students’ clinical experience, working directly with patients and the healthcare team is essential to ensure students acquire the necessary competence for practice. There are differences in the quality of clinical environments and in students’ clinical placement experiences and not all clinical sites are optimal learning environments. The main goal of the Bologna Declaration was to standardize European Higher Education, differences still exist in nursing curriculum implementation in Europe. There are both 3 and 4 year programs, inconsistent adoption of the European Credit Transfer System and wide variation in CP models and students’ experiences [1, 2]. The literature describes differences in the quality of clinical environments and in students’ CP experiences, and shows that not all clinical sites are optimal learning environments which can, in some cases, have a negative impact on student learning [5, 6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion