The Impact of a Nursing Clinical School Model on Learning, Teaching, Research and Partnership: A descriptive exploratory study

Abstract

The Clinical School Model is a unique feature of undergraduate nurse education at La Trobe University. After 20 years of operation, little is known about the value of this model for students, staff, the university, and clinical partners. This paper presents a study that is currently taking place to investigate the impact of the clinical school model on nursing students’ learning, graduate nurses’ practice readiness, and to explore clinical stakeholders and academic staff’s perspectives. This study uses a descriptive exploratory study with a multi-method approach; combining quantitative surveys and qualitative descriptive exploratory phases, each involving a different group of participants. Quantitative surveys will be anonymous. Qualitative data collection will be done by individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The findings of this project will help fill a gap in the nursing literature on the outcomes of a nursing clinical school partnership, education and research model. The findings of this project will play an important role in clarifying a way forward for universities and health service agencies to work as partners in the enterprise of nurse education and nursing practice.