Pre-test and post-test evaluation of students' perceptions of a collaborative clinical education model on the learning environment.

OBJECTIVE This study investigated the impact of a collaborative clinical education model on students' perception of the psycho-social learning environment. DESIGN A pre-test and post-test quasi experimental design. SETTING A tertiary referral centre. SUBJECTS Second and third year undergraduate nursing students were asked to rate their perceptions of the psycho-social learning environment at the completion of the clinical practicum. TOOL: The tool used to measure psycho-social perceptions of the clinical learning environment was the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory previously validated in Australian health care contexts. INTERVENTION A collaborative arrangement with the university and ward staff where eight students are placed on a ward and a ward staff member is paid by the university to be 'off-line' from a clinical workload to supervise the students. This is in contrast to the standard facilitation model where students are placed with registered nurses in different localities under the supervision of a 'roving' registered nurse paid by the university. RESULTS No significant differences were found in pre-test mean scores when comparing wards. Significant differences in post-test scores for the intervention group were identified in the sub scales of Student Involvement, Satisfaction, Personalisation and Task Orientation. CONCLUSIONS The adoption of a collaborative clinical education model where students are integrated into the ward team and the team is responsible for student learning can positively enhance capacity for student learning during their clinical practicum.