Paramedicine students’ perception of preparedness for clinical placement in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

BackgroundClinical placement is an essential element of paramedicine education and training as the profession completes the transition from vocational training to a pre-employment, university based model. The objective of this study was to survey pre-employment paramedicine students at Universities in Victoria, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand to measure their self-assessed preparedness for clinical placement.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study involving paper-based questionnaires employing a convenience sample of 682 undergraduate paramedicine students (years 1–4) who had completed at least one clinical placement. Student perceptions of preparedness for clinical placement were measured using an adaptation of the ‘Preparedness for Hospital Practice’ questionnaire.ResultsThere are significant differences in students’ perception of preparedness for clinical placement, which reflects the differences between universities in relation to structure of their paramedicine programs, the timing of clinical education and the number of hours of clinical placement.DiscussionThere needs to be clinical placement agreements between the ambulance services and universities that clearly describe the standards and expected elements of a quality clinical placement.ConclusionsIn order to improve the preparedness for placement for paramedicine students, a united approach is required by all stakeholders, including ambulance services, students and universities.

Student experiences of a paramedic clinical facilitator model during ambulance clinical placements: a qualitative study

“…Previously, researchers in the area have called for a more collaborative approach to clinical placements (47). To encourage quality clinical placement, we encourage universities and ambulance services to consider collaborating, implementing and evaluating a sustainable paramedic facilitator model for students while on ambulance clinical placements.…”

Perceptions of preparedness: How hospital-based orientation can enhance the transition from academic to clinical learning.

“…Our study provides some insight into learners' preparedness to transition from academic to clinical learning by identifying three major components of HBO (site, unit/service & individual). Work readiness dimensions of work competence (knowledge and skills) [11][12][13][14]15,[21][22][23] and personal characteristics 15,16 have been explored in studies, however, we could not find studies detailing the organizational acumen dimension (knowledge of the area, procedures, and policies) and its relationship to learner preparedness. Our findings suggest that opportunities to develop specific organizational acumen during HBO could play an important factor in helping learners feel prepared transitioning between academic and clinical learning.…”

Paramedic student encounters with patients during clinical placements: A multi‐institutional cohort study

“…[8][9][10] Clinical placements are essential for students to safely begin their practice under the supervision of trained preceptors. 3,4 Yet worldwide, clinical placement resources have been difficult to obtain, 3,11 and there is little empirical evidence available to guide educators in setting realistic and achievable goals for the number and type of patient encounters a student should experience before graduation. 10,12 13-15 In the United States, paramedic education programs obtain guidance from national emergency medical services (EMS) education standards (NEMSES) and program accreditation standards set forth by the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions (CoAEMSP).…”

“…student encounters by clinical impression for adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients (ages >12 years). The most common impressions were "other medical" (median encounters per student: 37, IQR: 22-59), trauma (median encounters per student: 33 [16-50]), cardiac (median encounters per student: 30), respiratory (median encounters per student: 23[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]), abdominal pain (median encounters per student 21[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]), and behavioralpsychiatric (median encounters per student: 13[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]…”