Building Sustainable Capacity within the Registered Nurse Workforce to Enhance Workplace Experiences for Undergraduate Students Dr Moira Stephens Ms Maria Mackay Associate Professor Sharon Bourgeois Mr Roy Brown Associate Professor Angela Brown

The Project sought to … 1.Enhance sustainable collaborative partnerships between the CRAM Foundation (a private health facility) & the University of Wollongong and between Nardy House (a private health facility) & the University of Wollongong. 2.Develop sustainable capacity building of the nursing workforce through contribution to staff development in regional and rural NSW South Coast. 3.Develop a staff development program together with suite of resources in collaboration with, and to support, staff at CRAM Foundation and at Nardy House 4.Evaluate the staff development program from the perspective of the participants through a modified nominal group technique 5.The create capacity within the CRAM Foundation and Nardy House for engaging with first year nursing students' work experience.

The Rationale is nested within an inclusive pedagogy wherein the UOW (University of Wollongong) SNMIH (School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health) strives to provide students with excellent workplace experience opportunities and positive clinical learning environments and the values of the SNMIH align closely with those of the CRAM Foundation and of Nardy House, partners in this collaborative project. This supports a positive cross-organisational collaborative workplace culture, evidenced by these shared values and norms

How ? Through a Practice-Development (PD) approach which aims to foster a culture of effectiveness in building workforce capacity to support engagement with workplace experience for undergraduate students The principles of practice development enabled participants to develop their own shared repertoire of resources and practices. PD is an approach that focuses on the development of individuals, cultures and contexts (Manley et al 2008) which results in sustainable change. This is important because sustainability is a key requirement for partnership success and a major challenge for many organizations (Alexander et al 2003).

The Programme Workshop 1 – set the scene and the content for the subsequent three workshop content Provided participants with an understanding of practice development. Came to understandings of preceptorship using the principles of practice development and insights gained from personal reflection on practice Developed a programme of content set by the learning needs of the participants

The Programme Workshops 2-4 – Developed the themes and content identified by the participants Explored and appreciated the value of reflection as a tool for supporting students in the clinical environment Explored, discussed practiced solution focused feedback as a tool for the preceptoring relationship Examined and discussed assessment embedded within a reflective framework and as criteria for clinical skills Provided participants with an understanding of nominal group facilitation and used the technique to evaluate the programme and develop a user orientated suite of resources.

Resources for supporting sustainable capacity

Evaluation - What changes would you make to the programme to help your learning?

Evaluation - What are the strengths of this programme? (Most important choice rated 5 through to 1 for 5 th most important)

Responses pre workshop one compared with post workshop four responses. Indicate the current level of knowledge about your preceptor role.

How skilled do you consider yourself for undertaking a preceptor role? Pre and post responses

Acknowledgements Sheila Frater, Manager Disability Services, CRAM Foundation Liz Pilipari, Senior Nurse, Nardy House Denise Redmond, Chief Executive Officer, Nardy House CRAM Foundation staff The participants from UOW, CRAM Foundation and Nardy House HETI/ICTN