Web 2.0 strategies to enhance support of clinical supervisors of undergraduate nursing students: an Australian experience

Undergraduate nursing students are required to undertake supervised work integrated learning placements in a range of settings to prepare them for registration. These placements are supervised and facilitated by nursing professionals. To date there has been little exploration of the needs of the facilitators to assist them in carrying out their necessary role. This research project, conducted over a three year period, found there was a need to develop an easily accessible communication strategy to support clinicians who supervised students. In particular clinical supervisors indicated they wanted to receive information that related to the role and function of supervisors in practice which was timely and anticipated their needs. They also wanted a conduit for feedback from the University regarding the work integrated learning undertaken by students. In response to the expressed need for a feedback loop, a digital communication strategy using blogging and micro blogging was established. Furthermore this digital strategy enabled equity of access to geographically dispersed practitioners in urban and rural areas. A range of methods was used to engage clinicians with this approach. Face-to-face workshops, academic detailing and key change agents were identified to champion and disseminate information about the strategy within their workplaces. Although clinicians indicated that their preferred method of communication was electronic, subsequent evaluation highlighted systems and individual challenges to communicating with clinical supervisors who were based off-campus. It highlighted that some workplace policies and culture dissuaded engagement with this strategy, and that some clinical supervisor’s information communication technology literacy was low. This paper outlines the initial research findings and traces the development, implementation and evaluation of the digital communication strategy.