POSTER - Practice Tutors’ views on their readiness for supporting OU pre-registration nursing students who require reasonable adjustments for clinical placement.

This project would access Practice Tutors’ views on their readiness to support OU student nurses who require reasonable adjustments in clinical placement. Primarily, the rationale for this project would be to ascertain the development Practice Tutors require to support these students. Data would be collected via three virtual focus groups led by LK, then transcribed and thematically analysed by LK. Conclusions would then be taken from the data with relevant recommendations identified regarding future development/training for OU Practice Tutors. 

This project would extend the EdD work from LK researching the gap in the literature reporting upon the experiences of relevant practitioners supporting student nurses in clinical placement who require reasonable adjustments. King (2018; 2019) discovered that link lecturers felt unprepared and lacked the knowledge to support these students. As comparable practitioners, OU Practice Tutors assist in optimising the clinical learning environment for these student nurses so could also be potentially hindered by the limited evidence-base and lack of national guidance. LK has presented her EdD research twice to OU Practice Tutors which has evoked discussions highlighting areas for development for Practice Tutors’ skills and knowledge. By accessing Practice Tutors’ views on their readiness through this project, recommendations for relevant training could be identified which would contribute to the professional development of these colleagues and be in alignment to the vision of the new AL contract. Recommendations from the project could also enhance the student experience and assist in reducing/maintaining OU attrition rates.