A new system for student placements

• Read ‘Student placement digital tool design feedback and next steps’. This document outlines what we heard from future users about the initial design of a digital tool for coordinating student placements nationwide. It includes feedback on the design, our refinements based on feedback, and the next steps for the build of the digital tool. Feedback came from multiple stakeholders during the collaborative design phase between February and June 2024. It included 16 collaborative design workshops with users, ICT meetings with education providers, user validation meetings, student workshops, and engagement with specialist groups and some user testers. We also received more than 50 written submissions in response to the collaboration design document we shared with health and education providers.
• We’re in the build phase of the digital tool and user experience testing with small groups is underway. Feedback from stakeholders during the collaboration informed the design so we could progress to the build. Options for phasing the rollout to on-board users of the tool following the initial release in October 2024 are being considered. We’ll discuss these with key stakeholders before sharing the rollout schedule.
  
  
• We’re in the final stages of reviewing feedback from education providers about the unified national legal agreement for student placements at Health NZ – with existing local schedules incorporated.
  
  
• We’re engaging with community health providers to understand the capacity for student placements and increase in placement opportunities. These include Hauroa Māori and Pacific providers, Nurse Leads in primary care, Lead Maternity Carers, and other non-government organisations and private providers. Providers will be able to enter their placement information into the new digital tool when it is live, removing the need for manual collection.
  
  
• We’ve confirmed Te Tai Tokerau and Southern as the first two districts we’re working with to set up Dedicated Education Units (DEUs) as part of our Expansion Initiative. They’re able to move quickly to be ready for nursing placements in semester 2, 2024. This initiative is about developing a national and consistent approach for supporting nursing placements at Health NZ, and we are developing a national framework. It will leverage off the nursing Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) model already in use in some locations and is expected to improve student experiences, completion rates and increase placement numbers.

The Student Placement System Change Programme supports actions in our  Health Workforce Plan 23/24 – to drive local-led innovation in training with strengthened and visible student placements and improved national coordination. We’ll collectively see the best results when all health and education providers get involved.

Our work fits within four workstreams:

1. Investment in coordination infrastructure – technology and national support for placements (the digital tool and Student Placement Hub)
2. Standardisation of forms, processes and contracts (a unified approach to quality and administration)
3. Expansion of placements by increasing the quality, range and number of placements across health settings (including the Dedicated Education Unit Expansion Initiative)
4. Equity and retention of students through improved accessibility, culture and better experiences

At this stage we’re focusing on pre-registration nursing, midwifery, and Allied Health, Scientific and Technical students. Medical students currently have a well-operating system that will run alongside this new system for health clinical placements.  

In the third quarter of the 2024 calendar year:  

• We’ll continue with the build of the digital tool. The digital tool is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which is an initial version with basic features needed to get us underway. 
  
  
• We’ll confirm the features and business processes in the MVP. 
  
  
• User acceptance testing will get underway from July 2024. We’ll reach out to people who have told us they’re interested in being involved. Training for the first users of the digital tool will happen in this quarter.
  
  
• Te Tai Tokerau and Southern DEUs will be established. We’ll share updates and get clearer on the ongoing approach for DEUs. 
  
  
• Features to address inequities, and to improve culture and retention will be integrated into the digital tool design for future build work. These are informed by feedback and kōrero with students and Hauora Māori and Pacific providers.
  
  
• The updated unified national placement agreement with education providers for placements at Health New Zealand will be shared with stakeholders for final feedback. This is to ensure everyone agrees before it is finalised.

Throughout the project we’re keeping stakeholders informed. Connecting and moving together is important for the success of the new student placement system.  

You can read the stakeholder updates here. Contact us at placementmodel@tewhatuora.govt.nz if you’d like to receive updates. 

• June 2024
• April 2024
• 25 January 2024
• 14 September 2023 (PDF, 177KB)

We have some important goals for this initiative. 

• To grow student and placement numbers, particularly for Māori and Pacific health providers, and primary and community settings. 
• Provide more diverse and better placement experiences for students in culturally safe environments. 

This means we train more students locally and keep those already in study. It’s a sustainable way to increase our health workforce with people from our communities.  

Specially, this includes: 

• 10% more clinical placements across the whole health sector over the next three to five years – enabling over 2,000 more nursing, midwifery and allied health students to enrol each year 
• 8% increase in student completion rates over the next five years (especially for Māori and Pacific students) – resulting in about 1,500 more graduates per year 

Please continue to manage clinical student placements using existing arrangements until the new Student Clinical Placement and Access Agreement with Health New Zealand is signed and in place. 

The new agreement will cover nursing, midwifery and allied health, scientific and technical students. 

Are you a community health provider? We’re helping education providers to find new opportunities for student placements across the whole health system and country.  

We have reached out to community health providers who told us they could offer clinical placements in 2024. If you have capacity to take students for clinical placements, please email us placementmodel@tewhatuora.govt.nz. 

This work is to expand placement opportunities across all health settings and increase the health workforce. We anticipate a new nationwide digital system will support this process in the future. 

Finding a place to learn in health’, our analysis of the current state of the student placement system in New Zealand is available. 

 
This is the analysis and findings of how health and education providers manage existing student clinical placements. It is informed by intensive sector engagement activity, data and other research. We’re using this current state analysis to inform and implement a collaborative design and iterative approach to improving the student placement system in New Zealand. 

Email us at placementmodel@tewhatuora.govt.nz and we’ll let you know how you can help grow our health workforce.