Practice learning teams: a partnership approach to supporting students' clinical learning

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Clinical Placements
• Collaborative Learning

Background:

• Government and nursing regulatory bodies emphasize the need for quality clinical learning experiences.
• Existing structures like the link lecturer role prompted a review of support for nursing students in practice.
• The necessity for improved collaborative structures in practice placements was identified.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report on the development and implementation of practice learning teams (PLTs).
• To explore the rationale for adopting PLTs over existing models.
• To discuss challenges and emerging benefits of this collaborative approach.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of practice learning teams (PLTs) in a School of Nursing.
• Analysis of the driving forces for adopting PLTs.
• Discussion of implementation challenges and perceived benefits.

Main Results:

• Early experiences with PLTs are documented.
• Reasons for transitioning from the link lecturer role to PLTs are examined.
• Emerging benefits and encountered challenges are discussed.

Conclusions:

• Practice learning teams (PLTs) represent a novel collaborative approach to clinical education.
• The implementation process involved addressing specific challenges.
• The initiative shows promise for enhancing student support in practice placements.