Improving student recruitment and experience in a specialist heart centre

Underwood, Stella
Cooke, Janet
Meers, Gail

Authors Stella Underwood is clinical placement facilitator; Janet Cooke is quality and safety nurse manager; both at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. Gail Meers is deputy director of nursing, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

This article has been double-blind peer reviewed

Nursing Times 117(9):p 25-26, September 2021.

In this article…

How to improve the learning environment for student nurses to help with staff recruitment
Development of a bespoke pathway for elective placements
Introducing coaching to improve the student nurse experience

Abstract

Providing an attractive learning environment for student nurses helps with nurse recruitment. A fall in student nurses taking up jobs after their placement was causing job vacancy rates to rise at one specialist heart unit, so new approaches were needed. These included designing a bespoke pathway for elective placements, developing an electronic brochure to promote learning opportunities and elective placements, and introducing coaching to give students more independence and prepare them for qualification.