Enhancing undergraduate nursing clinical placements

Currently in Australia, undergraduate nursing clinical placement supervision is predominantly provided within two supervision models – the traditional clinical supervision model (TCSM), sometimes referred to as the ‘buddy model’, and preceptorship. The TCSM involves one clinical educator being responsible for supervising and assessing a group of students while the students are paired with a registered nurse at a local level on a shift-by-shift basis. The preceptorship model involves the pairing of a student with a registered nurse for the duration of the clinical placement. The supervision of undergraduate nursing students at the researched hospital predominantly takes place within a TCSM. The trial model described in this book, the Advanced Buddy Model (ABM), is a hybrid between preceptorship and the TCSM. The ABM is focused on increasing the preparation of both buddy nurses and students for clinical placements, as well as increasing consistency of supervision and reduced number of buddy nurses for each student.