An evaluation of the first year of a collaborative tertiary-industry curriculum as measured by students' perception of their clinical learning environment

Abstract

Background: In response to the limitations identified through the transfer of nursing education to the tertiary setting this paper reports on an evaluation of a collaborative tertiary/industry programme established in response to recommendations arising from the National Review of Nursing Education - 'Our duty of care'. Aim: This study compared first year undergraduate student nurses' perceptions of the psycho-social characteristics of their clinical learning environment as part of a tertiary-industry collaborative model with other first year undergraduate nursing students placed in a similar clinical learning environment as a block placement, separate from their home tertiary institution. Method: A survey design using the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory developed to assess student nurses' perception of the psycho-social aspects of the clinical learning environment was used to collect the data. Findings: When the personalization score for the first year students of the tertiary- industry collaborative model is compared to other first year students' experience in the clinical area there is a significant difference in personalization scores.