Our Clinical Education Team is working closely with Huddersfield University, so students have more ownership of their own learning. It enables them to find solutions to their own problems, and instead of working independently is a collaborative approach to learning.

The students* in the pilot on wards 17 and 19 have responsibility for their own patients from day one, with support from buddies and the coach. They will have a mentor at all times, though they may not work with the student all the time. Mentors ensure they regulate meetings and work collaboratively with the coaches/students when it comes to sign-off stage.

The new model is called Collaborative Learning in Practise (Clip).  It is structured with one coach to three students, and each student has up to four patients, dependent on the stage of the student. 

It gives us the possibility to increase student capacity, as it is more sustainable and achievable, unlike our current model of one mentor to one student.

Senior Educator, Lisa Roper, (pictured second from right) said: “This exciting pilot gives our student nurses more responsibility around their own learning and builds student confidence at an earlier stage.

“The traditional mentor approach has become unsustainable – we just don’t have enough of them across the Trust to support our student nurses”.

The new Clip model is being rolled out nationally and is recognised by Health Educational England as being beneficial.

The pilot started this month and will run until March – after which it’s hoped we can roll it out across the whole of CHFT.

*We asked three students in the pilot to tell us what they think so far:

Year 1 Paige Whitmore, "I really feel supported by the team and having the back-up of the 3rd years is great. There are always loads of people around to help me".

Year 2 Rose Hawkes, "The whole team is so supportive, and there is great communication. The skills I'm learning reflect my university studies, which is excellent"

Year 3 Emma Owen, "Being a coach as part of the programme has really built my confidence. I feel that when I share my experiences with others, it's also enhancing their learning"