Inspiring Confidence in Healthcare Students for their Practice Placements Evaluation findings from the pilot “Preparation for Practice Placements”

This eBook presents the findings of an independent evaluation of the Preparation for Practice Placements project, which was delivered between December 2024 and January 2025. The project aimed to enhance the experiences of nursing, midwifery and allied health professional learners, during their practice placements by exposing them to a set of scenario-based films before their placement, designed to support understanding, confidence, and the behaviours necessary to thrive in practice placement environments and to deliver safe, effective care. For educators, the resources served as tools to enhance teaching efforts that support learner readiness for practice-based learning. The core objective of this eBook was to assess whether these resources successfully prepared students for the realities of their practice placements, and the evaluation followed a three-phase approach: establishing a baseline of learners’ experiences, examining the implementation of the intervention, and measuring its impact. A total of 72 learner responses were evaluated in the impact evaluation and an additional 28 learners and 4 educators took part in the process evaluation. This eBook explored their feedback and insights, and revealed how the films contributed to learners’ preparedness, emotional resilience, and ability to navigate difficult placement situations.

“This eBook demonstrated that when resources are structured and thoughtfully delivered to healthcare students, that the students will garner enhanced confidence, competence, and motivation to navigate their placements. It was encouraging to see evidence of success across all phases of the evaluation and gain insight into how the project can continue to improve the placement experience for everyone involved. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage students at the beginning of their healthcare journeys to thrive in the healthcare field and provide safe and effective care to patients promoting equality in healthcare.”

Professor Theo Gavrielides, PhD