Collaborative Learning in Practice (CLIP)

All our students are being introduced to peer coaching in practice, clinical simulation and in classroom group work
Nursing alumni
The University is working in collaboration with placement providers to develop ‘Collaborative Learning in Practice’ placements that facilitate peer learning for healthcare students within the South West.
If you are interested in developing CLIP please contact Adele Kane for access to full staff/student preparation resources, including clinical tool kits and research groups.
Adele Kane
Lead Academic Placement Development Team, Practice Lead Fellow, Health Education England - Collaborative Learning in Practice
 

The CLIP model

The Collaborative Learning in Practice (CLiP) model, originating in Amsterdam, is becoming increasingly popular and adapted for a variety of care settings in the UK following development by University of East Anglia CLIP™. It is distinct from the traditional mentorship model in the way practice learning is organised and in the philosophy that underpins how students learn.
You will find various models such as CLiPP – Collaborative Learning in Practice Learning - following the basic philosophy of coaching, facilitated peer to peer coaching under a variety of names.

Key drivers

  • Enhancing the student placement learning experience in order to enable attainment of competency and proficiency
  • Enablement of high quality supervision and coaching in the current climate of staff/supervisor shortages and increasing demands on nursing time
  • Need to attract, recruit and retain into nursing roles – a good placement experience = recruitment
  • Need to increase capacity to secure the above and future of the profession.

Evidence

  • Students rapidly develop confidence and leadership as they coach each other as well as being coached. Additionally students take great responsibility for their learning and are more satisfied with their clinical practice than those students undergoing traditional supervision (Hellström-Hyson et al (2012)
  • Students who are coached rather than taught/mentored develop sound clinical reasoning and decision making skills and preparedness to take on role of RN (Secomb, 2008, Hellström-Hyson et al., 2012)
  • Increased job satisfaction for coaches and the clinical team (Fact Seeking Visit, 2017)
  • Increased recruitment to clinical areas where CLiP is embedded (Lobo et al 2014).
 

CLIP in practice

CLIP requires planning, preparation, and project management as it requires a cultural change in supporting and assessing learning, delivering care, and perpetuating best practice. The GROW model of coaching (Whitmore 2012) by supervisors and peer-to-peer coaching by students underpins learning requiring reflection and reflexivity which is already bedded into the ethos of nursing and midwifery.

Implementation

Planning and preparation of staff is key, we have several models that can be shared and developed. Students are introduced to the concepts in the preparation for practice sessions and further prepared as part of placement induction.

How it works

Students are allocated practice assessors for formal assessment, the practice assessors, or a delegated practice supervisor will work with the student to develop the initial learning plan.
The practice assessor will not work routinely with the student, relying predominantly on feedback from the Supervising team, thus increasing inter-assessor reliability.
The practice assessor will provide formal assessments at Midpoint stage and Endpoint stage. They also assess episodes of care in that placement area.
Several students (e.g. 4/6) are allocated to a team on any particular shift, the practice supervisor is responsible for a group of patients, however, the care is primarily organised and delivered by students. The practice supervisor will 'coach' the students for all the relevant activities and accept delegation of care as appropriate.
Students take responsibility for designated patients for all care delivery including liaising with MDT after one week of bedding into the placement area. First, second and third years are expected to work collaboratively together in caring for their group of patients, supporting and advising each other.
Reflection sessions with all students take place once a week.
 

CLIP publications
Williamson G, Kane A, Plowright H, Bunce J, Clarke D, Jamison C (2020) Collaborative learning in practice: A systematic review and narrative synthesis of the research evidence in nurse education. Nurse Education in Practice 43 (2020) 102706 
Williamson G, Kane A, Plowright H, Bunce J, Clarke D, Jamison C (2020) ‘Thinking like a nurse’. Changing the culture of nursing students′ clinical learning: Implementing collaborative learning in practice. Nurse Education in Practice 43 (2020) 102742 
Williamson G, Kane A, Bunce J (2020) Student nurses, increasing placement capacity and patient safety. A retrospective cohort study. Nurse Education in Practice 
Williamson, G, Kane A, Bunce, J (2021) Evaluation of CLiP. In Collaborative Learning in Practice: Coaching to Support Student Learners in Healthcare. Lobo,C, Paul, R, Crozier K 
Williamson, R, Clarke, D, Jamison C, Bunce, J, McDowell, C, Plowright, H (2021) Collaborative Learning in Practice: videos to prepare students and staff (plymouth.ac.uk)
 
 

Collaborative learning in practice videos