Rethinking student night duty placements

Objective: Student clinical placements principally occur over morning and afternoon shifts. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that investigated experiences and value of night duty placements for undergraduate nursing students. Design: Final year students from one university were invited to participate in a two week night shift placement. A qualitative approach involving focus groups with students and ward nurses, prior to, and following the clinical placements was used. In addition, individual interviews were conducted with other key stakeholders from the university and health care service. Setting: The study was conducted in one metropolitan public hospital in Victoria, Australia. A clinical teacher was employed by the university to provide student support during the placement. Subjects: Fourteen final year nursing students, five permanent night staff from the hospital and four key personnel representing university and hospital perspectives consented to participate. Main outcome measures: All transcripts were thematically analysed together within the context of placement value and experience. Results: Three themes emerged from pre‑placement interviews: nature of night shift, preparing to be a graduate, and change and adjustment. Post‑placement interviews revealed the themes: time to learn and time to teach, adjusting, continuity and preparing to be a graduate. Conclusions: Night duty placements offered a range of possibilities and challenges. They provided opportunities for skills consolidation, enhanced understanding of nursing work and were perceived to contribute to readiness for graduate practice. Further research is needed to explore such placements on a larger scale.