Setting standards for high-quality placements

Aitkenhead, Susan

Susan Aitkenhead was previously project lead on behalf of Health Education South London and is now interim head of nursing, NHS England (London region); Sean Farran is associate director of education and quality, Health Education South London; Ian Bateman is head, Pan-London Quality and Regulation Unit.

• This article has been double-blind peer reviewed

5 key points

1 The more closely nurse education and training resemble working experiences, the better prepared students will be

2 Clinical experience is seen as the core of nurse education

3 It can be difficult to confirm whether working environments always provide student placements that are fit for purpose

4 Developing standards to show that organisations offer high-quality placements enables a credible measurement approach

5 Recognition of the importance of practice placements at executive board level is crucial

Nursing Times 111(37):p 22-25, September 2, 2015.

Abstract

Aitkenhead S et al (2015) Setting standards for high-quality placements. Nursing Times; 111: 36/37, 22–25.

As part of a project undertaken by a local education and training board, a wide range of stakeholders across South London were asked what makes a high-quality practice placement for student nurses, and how that quality could be effectively measured. This article outlines the drafting and testing of a set of quality standards in a mix of provider settings. Although further refinement is required, the standards enabled placement sites to question themselves about their own education and training processes, strengthened their partnership with the training and education board and facilitated the assurance that student nurses receive safe, effective and compassionate preparation when they are on placement.

Standards were developed to help give organisations offering clinical placements confidence that their placements provide high-quality realistic learning opportunities

In this article…

> Formulating standards to assess placement quality

> Strengths and limitations of the assessment approach

> Recommendations for standards/assessment amendments