Arranging clinical placements (CP) for nursing students is one of the crucial tasks undertaken by the Nursing Services Department in Hospital Authority (HA). It is essential for students to fulfill the Nursing Council's requirements for clinical placement before their registration or enrollment. As the largest healthcare provider in Hong Kong, HA has consistently strived to provide an adequate number of clinical placement opportunities within its capacity. However, with the increasing number of students, the demand for CP has exceeded 500,000 days, posing challenges for the coordination in cluster, head office, and educational institution personnel, in managing this high volume of requests.
Previously, the manual allocation of CP followed a two-step approach that involved significant manual work. However, this approach proved to be inefficient and ineffective. To address these issues, an electronic platform called the Clinical Placement Management System (CPMS) was developed. This system automatically allocates CP places based on requests received from educational institutions. The implementation of this system has streamlined the allocation process, enhanced transparency in allocation across different clusters and institutions, and increased the success rate of allocation. Moreover, it has significantly reduced the time required for allocation.
The CPMS also serves as a data capture tool, allowing the collection of allocation data and relevant information for future use. This feature ensures that valuable information is retained and can be utilized for analysis and improvement purposes.
By implementing the CPMS, the Nursing Services Department has effectively addressed the challenges associated with allocating CP places to nursing students. The system's automation and streamlined process have improved efficiency, transparency, and the success rate of allocation. Furthermore, the data captured by the system provides valuable insights for future planning and optimization of clinical placements within the Hospital Authority.
