Using Feedback to Improve Clinical Education of Nursing Students in an Academic-Practice Partnership

There is growing evidence to support partnerships between academic and practice institutions. In one of the Veterans Affairs Nursing Academic Partnerships (VANAP), nurses supervised undergraduate nursing students during the clinical practicum of acute care courses. To evaluate the partnership, faculty solicited feedback from nurses, clinical site leaders, and students. In this quality improvement project, feedback, in the form of written questionnaires and informal debriefing, was collected over four years at the end of sophomore and junior courses. Six site leaders, 71 students, and 34 nurses provided feedback. Common themes were: (1) all participants valued faculty presence during the clinical day, (2) students benefited from being paired with the same nurse throughout the course, (3) clinical teaching associates and site leaders suggested students be present for entire 12-hour shifts, and (4) clinical teaching associates, desired more training to address student needs. Several changes were made using this feedback: piloting a 12-hour shift and providing nurses with in-services on strategies to coach nursing students. Follow-up feedback showed high levels of satisfaction with these changes. Collecting feedback from students and staff provides guidelines for changing educational practices. Implementing changes based on the feedback strengthens partnerships, supports student learning needs, and improves student experiences.