I am an After-Hours Hospital Co-ordinator and Clinical Nurse Educator to Undergraduate Nursing Students.

Currently undertaking a Masters in Research – Minor Thesis.

While I was studying for my degree in nursing approximately 10 years ago part time, I was fortunate enough to have a great mentor who always advised me at the end of every shift where I was working as an Assistant Nurse on what I could do to make manage my time better and how I could remember medications and items that visiting medical staff had to change for the patients. These little steps helped me when I was interviewing and also how to answer when I was asked about what was in my scope of practice. I promised myself that when I became a fully qualified nurse that I would treat all my students the same, with transparency, empowerment,  and autonomy and that if they felt as if they were not succeeding, I would spend a little extra time with them so they felt valued.

A majority of nursing students that walk in through the hospital doors have unrealistic expectations of what it is to be a nurse. Many believe that it is all about advanced life support, blood, and medications. However, what they are not prepared for is that in order to get to that point they need to know basic anatomy and physiology and how the medications work on the body so they better understand the effects on the person from a nursing perspective. They also need to know how they can inform the patients in simple terms and encourage them to ask questions prior to discharge.

What Do I Do to Facilitate a Healthy Learning Environment?

When I welcome students on placement I get them to meet me at the front of the hospital, which is neutral ground. Then, I do a head count and go up and introduce myself to the students and who I am. From here, I will take them to a room within the hospital and go through a rundown of the hospital: Where we are at present, the library, pathology, medical imaging, emergency, intensive care, and also, if we are onsite, I tell them where the cafeteria is. In case they have any concerns, I provide them with my in-hospital contact phone number and also my email. I also ask them to provide me with their university email and next of kin details.

On their first day of placement, I ask each student to do a scavenger hunt on the ward from the handout that is provided to them in the morning, and hand this back to me no later than the 3^rd day of placement. They are also encouraged to bring a telephone refedex book along for the second day on the ward if it is their first placement for them. It should be no larger than what can fit in a pocket and they should use it to write down the medications, their class, how it works and how it is metabolised by the body with their side effects. I show them mine from when I started 10 years ago because I still carry it today. I also inform them to keep a copy of the Havard Medication book at the nurses’ desk for reference during their shift, and also to take it around with them during the medication times for patients. Most importantly, I tell them to ask questions because there is no such thing as a dumb question in nursing.

The students in their 1^st and 2^nd year will be provided with a roster, which is generally Monday to Friday. We do not ask them to work on weekends or public holidays in Australia, and if they require any changes to this roster, I ask them to arrange it amongst themselves and email myself, the Nurse Unit Manager and the university for safety reasons. 3^rd year nursing students are provided with a roster 3 weeks prior. I have each of my 3^rd year students send an email to the assigned nurse that they will be working with and to let them know a little bit about themselves, where they have done placements previously, and to communicate with them should they need to make any roster changes. I also have them to include me in the emails.

I have found that this approach, along with spending time with students who are struggling, is beneficial and makes them feel like they belong to the nursing community on the ward from the beginning of their placement.

In order to keep placements and staff happy as a clinical support nurse, I do rounds on the ward multiple times a day to keep in touch with the staff and see if they have any concerns about students and if I need to spend extra time with them. This means the staff also benefit from face time with me and can see that I appreciate the input from them also.

Once a week, I do an education session with the students and have a demonstrative session, which might be an Aseptic Non-touch technique(ANTT) or how to spike a bag and or how to do a clean dressing. It allows them some practice and an explanation to myself and fellow students for how these tasks and also how medications work without making them nervous.

I also have them write a reflective journal during placement, starting from day one, explaining how they felt, then reflecting on their final day to see how much they have improved during their placement. I find this allows them to walk away feeling like they are capable of almost anything once their placement is over. After this, they only need to learn about exams.