Innovative placement provides hands-on learning for nursing students
Wintec nursing students are gaining valuable experience thanks to an innovative nursing placement at an aged residential care facility in the Waikato.
Wintec’s Centre for Health and Social Practice nursing team has partnered with Tamahere Eventide Retirement Village to open a dedicated education unit (DEU) for nursing student placements - the first of its kind in the Waikato.
Wintec nursing undergraduate manager, Glennis Birks, says the aim of the unit is to provide a clinical placement which helps students learn in a real life and supportive context.
“The students are an integral part of the health care team at Eventide. They’re involved with every aspect of the facility including providing supervised care for residents, with the support of staff from both Wintec and Eventide.”
Wintec operates further DEUs in partnership with Waikato District Health Board at Waikato Hospital, however this is the first community DEU in the Waikato.
Glennis says DEUs have shown many benefits so far including improvement in patient outcomes and helping to ensure Wintec graduates are work-ready.
The DEU concept is based on a clinical learning environment that centers around the education of the students.
“The philosophy behind these is that every member of staff at the facility takes part in the education and development of the students. The students works with and are supervised by registered nurses from the facility who have completed a short training course at Wintec.
“We also have a Wintec academic staff member within the DEU who provides ongoing professional development to staff.”
“It is hoped that the Eventide placement will encourage more new graduates to choose to work in the aged care sector and specifically, dementia care.
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