Compiling a placement audit tool: a case study of one college's use of the QualCube model in developing an audit tool...

Nursing students, as users of college services, can rightly expect satisfaction and even continuous improvement in their clinical experience, which is one of the cornerstones of nurse education. The North Yorkshire College of Health Studies has developed and used a multidisciplinary placement audit tool based on QualCube, a framework for standard setting, auditing and improving quality developed by Nicklin and Lankshear (in Nicklin & Kenworthy 1995 p 18). In order to facilitate a thorough audit of placement areas, a working group devised the tool based on the relevant areas of intersection of the three planes of the cube and then set written standards and specified performance criteria. This article describes the application of the QualCube framework, the design and description of the tool and feedback on its usage. The exciting and useful difference in the tool is its final page, the action plan, which is designed to realistically encourage continuous improvement in each placement area.