1,720,987 research outputs found
Promoting resilience and effective workplace functioning in international students in health courses
No full textThe purpose of this project was to improve the quality of the learning experiences of international students in nursing, public health and nutrition and dietetics, both at university and in the clinical setting. The university worked in partnership with three major metropolitan health care facilities/services in Queensland to develop a framework and resources designed to promote quality work-integrated learning experiences for international students and clinical supervisory staff.\ud
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The Resilience in International Student Education (RISE) model consists of student and staff workshops complemented by a purpose-built Cultural Connections for Learning (CCL) website that provides access to a wide variety of information and other learning resources. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations indicate that the approach is highly valued by participants as it promotes useful dialogue, sharing of experiences and greater understanding regarding quality learning experiences for international students in the health workplace. It provides an ideal springboard for promoting collaboration between international students and clinical supervisors in the workplace. The resources developed have the potential to enhance student learning as well as clinical teaching. The challenge will be to achieve continued progress within international student education through the development of sustainable strategies to embed the program within the context of individual curricula
Good practice report : clinical teaching
No full textClinical experience, or experience in the ‘real world’ of practice, is a fundamental component of many health professional courses. It often involves students undertaking practical experience in clinical workplace settings, typically referred to as clinical placements, under the supervision of health professionals. Broadly speaking, the role of clinical supervisors, or teachers, is aimed at assisting students to integrate the theoretical and skills based components of the curriculum within the context of patient/client care (Erstzen et al 2009). Clinical experience also provides students with the opportunity to assimilate the attitudes, values and skills which they require to become appropriately skilled professionals in the environments in which they will eventually practise.\ud
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However, clinical settings are particularly challenging learning environments for students. Unlike classroom learning, students in the clinical setting frequently find themselves involved in unplanned and often complex activities with patients and other health care providers, being supervised by a variety of clinical staff who have very different methods and styles of teaching, and negotiating bureaucratic or hierarchical structures in busy clinical workplaces where they may only be spending a limited amount of time. Kilminster et al (2007) also draw attention to tensions that may exist between the learning needs of students and the provision of quality care or need to prevent harm to the patient (e.g. Elkind et al 2007). All of these factors complicate the realisation of clinical education goals and underscore the need for effective clinical teaching practices that maximise student learning in clinical environments.\ud
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This report provides a summary of work that has been achieved in relation to ALTC projects and fellowships associated with clinical teaching, and a review of scholarly publications relevant to this field. The report also makes recommendations based on issues identified and/or where further work is indicated. The projects and fellowships reviewed cover a range of discipline areas including Biology, Paramedic Practice, Clinical Exercise Physiology, Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Nursing and Veterinary Science. The main areas of focus cover issues related to curriculum, particularly in relation to industry expectations of ‘work-ready’ graduates and the implications for theoretical and practical, or clinical preparation; development of competency assessment tools that are nationally applicable across discipline-specific courses; and improvement of clinical learning through strategies targeting the clinical learning environment, building the teaching capacity of clinical supervisors and/or enhancing the clinical learning/teaching process
Embedding Indigenous perspective in health curriculum
No full textWith the health of Australia's Indigenous peoples amongst the worst in developed nations, and the health disadvantage of Indigenous Australians so devastatingly apparent, the importance of appropriate training for health professionals has never been more salient. The Yapunyah Project was an initiative of the Faculty of Health at the Queensland University of Technology, instigated as a result of ethical, clinical, accreditation, and regulatory imperatives to develop cultural competence in health graduates with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. The project was guided by earlier reforms in health curricula by the Committee of Deans of Australian Medical Schools and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and by the cultural competence in healthcare delivery models of Campinha-Bacote (1998) and Cross, Bazron, Dennis & Isaacs (1989). It was also informed by the cultural safety reforms to health curricula in New Zealand. \ud
The Yapunyah Project involved extensive consultation and collaboration with Indigenous staff and health experts in the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, and it carefully constructed a core curriculum and associated graduate capabilities. The overall project involved incorporation of Indigenous perspectives across four major undergraduate courses in the Faculty of Health (Nursing, Psychology and Counselling, Public Health, and Human Movements) and one biomedical unit offered by the Faculty of Science. The experience has been a challenging and positive one, and the reforms have been supported by a sustainable framework
Technology and Clinical Decision Making in Nursing: A Good Fit?
No full textAs in many other practice disciplines, the issue of assisting nursing students to maximise their learning outcomes during the clinical component of their course is a challenging one. This paper outlines a program that has been implemented in the School of Nursing at QUT that uses computer-based technology as a means of complementing and enhancing students’ clinical experience. \ud
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The program was developed as part of a larger faculty-based project on Enhancing the quality of teaching and learning through on-line teaching and flexible delivery: resources for units in the Faculty of Health. From a pedagogical point of view it is based on principles derived from a constructivist framework, and is centered around ‘real life’ case scenarios and associated clinical problems. Students are required to problem solve their way through the case that is presented in order to (1) Identify the Priorities and (2) Plan the Care that is relevant to the situation. To do this they have to look for, and reflect critically on a series of resources that can be found by going to the ‘Nurses’ Centre’ and by ‘Visiting the Patient’. General feedback on their decision making at the two key points in the case study is available in the form of ‘Expert Opinion’. \ud
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An initial evaluation of the strategy was undertaken with first year undergraduate nursing students in the latter part of 2002. Overall, the feedback from students has been very positive. A consistent theme that was evident in their responses related to their perceptions of being “better prepared‿ for the “prac‿ as a result of working through the program. In addition they made a number of constructive comments that related more to the structure of the program itself and suggestions for improvement in this area.\ud
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Findings from this project highlight the pedagogical potential of technology in facilitating clinical learning for undergraduate nursing students. From a student perspective, it is not a replacement for experience in the “real world‿. However it constitutes a potentially powerful tool for complementing and enhancing this experience in a very significant way
Enhancing transition : an enhanced model of clinical placement for final year nursing students
No full textSpecialised support for student nurses making the transition to graduate nurse can be crucial to successful and smooth adjustment, and can create a path to positive and stable career experiences. This paper describes an enhanced model of final year nursing student placements which was trialled in 2006 at the Queensland University of Technology. The model involved collaboration with two major urban health services and resources were developed to support effective transition experiences. Ninety-two students, including 29 trial participants and 63 non-trial participants were assessed on preparedness for professional practice, before and after the trial semester. Results indicated an increase in preparedness across the entire sample, but students participating in the trial did not differ significantly in overall preparedness change from those who did not participate. Higher baseline preparedness in the trial group highlighted the possibility that proactive students who choose enrichment experiences tend to be likelier to gain benefit from such options than those who do not. Qualitative findings from focus groups conducted with 12 transition group students highlighted that one of the main beneficial aspects of the experience for students was the sense of belonging to a team that understood their learning needs and could work constructively with them
Transfer of learning following high fidelity simulation: A qualitative exploration
No full textThis study explored the perceptions of third year Bachelor of Nursing students regarding their ability to transfer knowledge and skills gained in <i>high fidelity simulation</i> (HFS) to their clinical practice in the workplace. Three focus groups were undertaken with final year students (n=25). Students valued the opportunity to participate in SIMs and expressed a strong desire for more SIM practice. However, they found it extremely difficult to identify learnings that they had applied in their clinical practice. A range of factors that facilitate and/or inhibit learning transfer were identified. Consistent with other literature, the findings highlight that learning transfer is not a straight forward process, particularly when students are in settings that are dissimilar to the HFS scenarios they have experienced. Given the significant take-up of HFS within nursing curricula, there are important implications for scenario design, especially debriefing, and the provision of learning support in the practice environment
The Yapunyah project: embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the nursing curriculum
No full textThe Yapunyah Project is an initiative of the Faculty of Health at Queensland University of Technology. It was instigated to further improve the development of cultural competence in health graduates with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. The project was informed by the cultural competence in healthcare delivery models of Campinha-Bacote (1998a) and Cross, Bazron, Dennis and Isaacs (1989) and by the cultural safety reforms to nursing curricula in New Zealand. The Yapunyah Project involved extensive consultation and collaboration with Indigenous staff and health experts in the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. A core curriculum, and associated graduate transcultural competencies, were informed by these discussions and earlier reforms in health curricula by the Committee of Deans of Australian Medical Schools and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Although the overall project involved four separate schools within the faculty, this paper details the experience of embedding Indigenous perspectives within the undergraduate nursing curriculum. The experience has been a challenging and positive one, and the reforms have been supported by a sustainable framework. This paper outlines how one university faculty is endeavouring to educationally prepare nursing students to practice with evidence-based transcultural nursing knowledge based on culture care values, beliefs, and traditional lifeways of Indigenous people of Australia. As such, the project aims to contribute to the improvement and promotion of the health and well-being of Indigenous Australians in culturally and ethnohistorically meaningful ways
Evaluating student learning: an Australian case study
No full textDetermining the quality of student learning is an ongoing challenge to all educators. However, for educators and students in the health professions, evaluation of learning takes on a different dimension in terms of ensuring that graduates are competent, and thus safe, practitioners. This paper outlines the processes and methods by which student learning has been evaluated throughout a 22 year period at a large School of Nursing in an Australian university. First, an historical overview of the major methods used demonstrates how relevant educational theories and sociopolitical forces and movements have influenced the whole curriculum including evaluation methods. Secondly, examples of current evaluation methods for undergraduate clinical and theoretical units are described. Reflections about past successes and future challenges conclude the paper
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