Key Factors to Ensure Students are Supported

Supporting college students in their clinical placements and field experiences is crucial for the development of their professional skills, self-confidence, and competence, not to mention your program’s reputation for excellence. Here then is a quick checklist of some of the most important factors program administrators need to address to support students:

Developing a “Learning” Environment

The creation of an educational environment that fosters learning is paramount. Students must feel safe, respected, and encouraged to explore and learn in their clinical settings.

Fostering a Sense of Belonging

A positive and supportive environment is essential for students’ learning. Mentors, peers, and other healthcare professionals should provide constructive feedback and be approachable. Students should have a sense of belonging and not feel isolated.

Offering Constructive Feedback

Constructive criticism and feedback are necessary for improvement. It’s important for students to understand what they’re doing correctly and where there is room for growth. This feedback should be timely, specific, and delivered in a manner that promotes understanding and growth.

Facilitating Competent Supervision

Adequate and competent supervision ensures that students are guided correctly in their clinical practices and is the lifeblood of programs with field requirements. Supervisors should be well-trained, experienced, and have good communication skills. Their role is to guide, correct, and nurture the student’s clinical skills. Tevera makes it much easier to manage and track your network of supervisors to ensure a quality experience for all students.

Creating Opportunities for Hands-On Experience

Students should have ample opportunities to engage in hands-on experiences. They should be exposed to a variety of clinical scenarios to broaden their skill set and understanding.

Communicating Clear Expectations

Students should be aware of what is expected of them in terms of performance, behavior, and outcomes. This clarity will help reduce anxiety and uncertainty.

Ensuring Accessibility to Resources

Administrators should ensure that students have access to necessary resources, such as equipment, reading materials, simulation labs, and more.

Regular Monitoring and Evaluation

Regular assessments and evaluations ensure that students are on the right track. These evaluations should be comprehensive and take into account both theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

Addressing Emotional and Mental Health

Clinical placements can be stressful. Providing students with resources and support for emotional and mental well-being is important.

Offering Opportunities for Reflection

Reflection is an important part of learning, especially in clinical settings. Administrators should provide opportunities for students to reflect on their experiences, learn from them, and apply the insights in the future.

Tevera’s program management software has been developed from the ground up to help programs support college students in their clinical placements and field experiences. We understand that the success of your program is based on your students’ experience preparing for and securing professional careers in their chosen fields. To that end, our product and customer teams work directly with program administrators, leadership, faculty, field supervisors, and students to create software tools that support all of your program’s stakeholders who share that goal.