Student/Staff Partnerships
Title and contact details (name and email) of project leadDr Jacqueline McCallum
Senior lecturer, department of Nursing and Community Health
0141 331 3068
WHAT?
Current NHS reconfiguration, the increased demands of an all graduate profession, and changes to the practice learning experiences that emphasise inter professional learning recognises that as a nursing profession we need to consider alternatives to the present system of providing nursing students with practice experience. There is a greater emphasis on the student following the service user journey in the spirit of individualised client focused care, as well as building interpersonal relationships between student and mentor to maximise learning opportunities.
SO WHAT?
The Hub and Spoke model for practice learning experience on the undergraduate nursing programmes at Glasgow Caledonian University was implemented in September 2013. The key characteristic of the GCU model is that the student is allocated to a practice learning area for an extended duration which can range from six weeks to three years. This is termed the ‘hub’ practice learning experience. Following negotiation the student then may go to a number of secondary or ‘spoke’ practice learning environments. These spokes may be anything from a single visit to a more prolonged period depending on the learning needs of the student.
Student evaluation of this model took place after first year which found that-
The hub and spoke model is an effective and efficient practice learning model for pre registration nursing programmes.It is associated with positive student outcomes in terms of belongingness, person centred care, clinical skills, and professional role development.It generates a sense of inclusiveness and ownership for practice staff and the student in the process of developing practice learning experiences as they can be more involved in the development of learning experiences, promote effective sharing of learning, and develop a robust evaluation of student performance over time which will promote valid and reliable measurement of competence by the end of the student journey.
Overall, findings from the hub and spoke cohort provide encouraging indications that person-centeredness has been embraced by these first-year nursing students, with multiple illustrations of how their learning around this quality ambition has been nurtured within their practice learning experience areas.
NOW WHAT? (consider what you would stop, start or continue)
Students are now entering year 3 of the programme using this model of practice learning. Evaluation continues to be positive, both from the mentor and the student nurse. Evaluation will continue, especially from students who complete the programme in September 2015.