Strength of cross-sector collaborations in co-designing an extended rural and remote nursing placement innovation: Focusing on student learning in preference to student churning

Aim: To describe the strength of a cross-sector and multi-university collaboration in co-designing an extended nursing placement innovation in rural and remote Australia. Context: Registered nurses are Australia's largest health workforce. Short-duration placements can limit nursing student exposure to rural and remote practice, impacting student capacity to tailor and contextualise their practice, navigate complex inequities, establish a sense of belonging and consider rural practice post-registration. Extended nursing placements have been recommended to address these challenges, but there are no guidelines governing their development and limited resources to support implementation. Approach: Methods adopted in program development included the following: (1) collaboration establishment; (2) co-defining challenges confronting nurse education in these contexts; (3) co-developing guiding principles; (4) co-designing a new approach to nurse education, the Extended Nursing Placement Program (ENPP); and (5) the co-contribution of stakeholders to program design, implementation and evaluation. Regional stakeholders include a NSW and Victorian Local Health District/Service, three Aboriginal health services and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. University participants include two metropolitan universities, a University Department of Rural Health and final-year Bachelor of Nursing students. Program implementation in Semester 1 of 2022 with seven final-year nursing students. Conclusion: The authors propose that the adoption of collaborative approaches can contribute to re-framing student nurse education and the development of a rural-ready nursing workforce. These approaches can provide regions and universities with the opportunity to avoid student churn whilst promoting the attainment of skills required to work, live and thrive in these locations.

Automated summary

This study describes a cross-sector and multi-university collaboration in designing an extended nursing placement program in rural and remote Australia. The collaboration aims to address the challenges in nurse education in these areas and develop a rural-ready nursing workforce. The program development involves establishing collaboration, defining challenges, developing guiding principles, designing the program, and involving stakeholders in the implementation and evaluation.