EDUCATION. Many nursing students have received other placements for their clinical training than what was planned from the beginning, but the solutions have largely worked well. Only a few second-semester students have had to delay their clinical training, but the Institute of Health and Care Sciences is counting on them being able to make this up and then graduate as planned.
“After a difficult transition period and major efforts by teachers, the classroom teaching seems to now be working well at the institute,” explains Inger Jansson, who is assistant head of institute with educational responsibility at the Institute of Health and Care Sciences. “The practical modules for the students on the nursing, radiology nursing and specialist nursing programs have been more difficult to solve.”
Several departments and care units within the municipality and region are not accepting students at this time because of COVID-19, but after a lot of effort, the clinical training is now largely working.
Good cooperation with the medical care system
“Initially, I had daily contact with my clinical training coordinator and with those responsible for clinical training placements in medical care units to figure out placements and find solutions. Everyone, both teachers, medical care units and students, have shown an incredible willingness to make it work and to ensure the students graduating this summer can complete their training.”
The medical care units have been working hard to find functioning solutions, which in many cases have meant that the departments available for clinical training are open for more students than normal.
“In semester 2, we have 14 students on the nursing program and six students on the radiology nursing program that currently have not received the clinical placement they should have, but they will be able to make this training up during the program. Right now, we need to provide these placements to students who will graduate in June.”
An exceptional situation
Even if the students are not doing their clinical training in departments with COVID-19 infections, it is impossible to not be impacted by the medical care system’s difficult situation. The student supervisors at the care units that can receive students have had to take on more students, which impacts the amount of individual supervision.
“But the focus is on the students achieving their intended course learning outcomes and completing clinical exams. They will also gain unique experience of working in the care system under exceptional circumstances,” says Inger Jansson.
Over one hundred nurses graduating in June
Right now, all 104 nursing students in semester 6 are on clinical training. A third of them are within municipal care and the rest in in-patient care. After this placement period, they will have the opportunity to do any necessary re-take tests and can then graduate in June.
“We have just decided to cancel the lovely graduation ceremony we usually have in Annedal Church. The ceremony is very much appreciated by our students and it is a real shame that we cannot have it. We are discussing if we should have a digital ceremony using Zoom or maybe delay the ceremony until the autumn instead,” explains Inger Jansson.
Adaptions
The Clinical Training Center (CTC) normally plays an important role for student clinical training. CTC has adapted to the current situation and is now only accepting very limited groups for exams. CTC, however, is still available online through recorded instructions and the ability to ask questions over Zoom in preparation for exams.
Students in semester 6 of the radiology nursing program are also completing their final long clinical training and will graduate in June. On the specialist nursing program for anesthesia care and intensive care, those students employed in the medical system have returned to work as nurses, but they are being given the opportunity to work in parallel with their degree project. Those who cannot combine studies with work as nurses will be allowed to return in the autumn and complete their education.
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM
