During placement

Thank you for hosting a student from the Department of Nursing. The following information is provided to assist you with commonly encountered activities during the placement.

  1. Pre-Clinical briefing

    Before each shift, the Clinical Educator/Preceptor is advised to spend some time with the MNSc student to understand their overall preparation for, and understanding of the shift ahead. General documentation for completion by the students each day should include the development of daily learning objectives or revision of weekly learning objectives and the development of a shift planner. It is advisable for educators/preceptors to make note of the student’s goals and similarly record any concerns about the student’s progress.

  2. Recording student hours in SONIA

    Clinical Educators or preceptors are required to enter the student’s hours attended and hours absent on the ANSAT Summative form. This is an important step to track student's placement hours. Placement hours planned and clinical educators/preceptors are required to verify/confirm any absences and enter these into Sonia, which will be deducted from the overall hours of the clinical placement.  Please email the nursing placements team if there are issues completing this process due to system issues.

  3. Assessments

    All MNSc students will be assessed using the ANSAT tool which is available on SONIA for completion and/or downloads. All educators or education teams will be allocated a designated educator password to access SONIA. Please contact the nursing placements team if you have any queries about this.

  4. Clinical incidences

    Educators or Preceptors are required to notify the clinical placements team if there any concerns about an MNSc student’s progress, or an incident occurring while on placement that requires escalation.

Clinical placement appraisal process

In addition to specific subject requirements, it is expected that prior to commencement of the clinical placement that the Clinical Educator/Preceptor will have a clear understanding of the ANSAT being used and the expected learning outcomes/standards of performance required in the subject.

During the clinical placement the Clinical Educator or Preceptor is advised to:

  • Maintain daily notes about the progress of each MNSc student;
  • Liaise with each MNSc student about how they think they are progressing and their plan for improving their performance (learning objective template);
  • Provide regular verbal feedback to the MNSc student about their performance (positive feedback and areas for improvement);
  • Liaise with the clinical placements academic team regarding an individual MNSc student’s progress throughout the placement;
  • Promptly identify MNSc students who are performing at a “borderline”, unsatisfactory level or ‘at risk’ of failure (below 3 on the ANSAT in any standard) with the clinical placements team. If a student is not progressing as expected, or not achieving the learning outcomes for the subject’s clinical placement, the CNE should contact the clinical placements team to discuss a plan of remedial action;
  • Complete other documents as guided by the clinical placements team regarding MNSc student’s progress such as a Professional Development Plan or Clinical File Note;
  • Complete a timely formative and summative appraisal of MNSc student’s progress;
  • Review and approve completed clinical hours, including verification of any absences in SONIA at the end of the placement.

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Need Help?

Kerry Sullivan
Clinical placement officer
e: nursing-placements@unimelb.edu.au		 Cameron May
Master of Nursing Science Course Coordinator
e: cameron.may@unimelb.edu.au