Improving transitions between clinical placements

Students regularly transition between clinical learning environments as they rotate through their clinical placements. These transitions are stressful for learners, as they must navigate unfamiliar policies, people and physical spaces. It is important to reduce cognitive overload at the start of each placement through appropriate inductions. Our governance processes found there was significant variation between induction processes at our affiliated teaching-hospital sites: our aim was to optimise and standardise these.

We opted for induction websites for each of our affiliated hospital sites, as these could be dynamically updated and quality assured. Our websites were informed by a conceptual framework of the clinical learning environment and the theory of sociomateriality. We co-produced them with students and other stakeholders through iterative evaluation and improvement cycles.

To elicit end-user analysis, we conducted three focus groups with 19 students. We used the technology acceptance model to inform our topic guide and coding categories. Students reported that the websites were useful, easy to use, and fulfilled a significant unmet need.

Induction websites can be optimised through the involvement of a range of stakeholders and the application of theory. They can be pushed to students before each new placement and used to scaffold in-person inductions. Further research is needed to explore the wider impacts of improved site inductions on participation and engagement with clinical learning opportunities and on student satisfaction and experience.