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Aim: This study aimed to evaluate Australian nursing students’ views of placements at seven tertiary education institutions with the use of the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET). Background: Clinical placements are a core element of healthcare education programs around the world (Chuan and Barnett, 2012) with undergraduate nursing students required to complete a prescribed number of hours as part of their degree. The quality of nursing clinical placements varies with a range of positive and negative learning experiences. Design: A survey design was used with a contemporary survey tool– the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET). Using Qualtrics software (Qualtrics, 2005) the on-line survey was distributed to approximately 6265 undergraduate nursing students at six Australian universities and one Technical and Further Education (TAFE) college where Bachelor of Nursing degree students were enrolled. Three Australian States were covered. Sites were selected where a project team member was employed. Methods: A total of 1263 nursing students completed the Placement Evaluation Tool (PET) − 19 items (rated 1–5), one global rating (rated 1–10) − following placement in three Australian States (July 2019−February 2020). Most - 618 (48.9%) completed a placement in acute care with placements positively rated overall. Results: The total PET mean score was 78.3% with 29.8% being ‘extremely satisfied’ (10 out of 10 – Item 20). However, 11.0% were dissatisfied with global ratings of four or less, whilst ratings between States differed significantly (p =

Current international research suggests universities providing nursing education should focus on shifting students' attitudes towards valuing clinical learning derived from aged care settings, offering support and education for aged care facility staff supervising nursing students' learning in the aged care setting, and encouraging nursing graduates to consider pursuing careers in gerontology nursing. Against this international backdrop, one Australian School of Nursing designed a structured clinical learning experience to offer final year nursing students an opportunity to further their knowledge and understanding of the complexities of the role of the gerontology registered nurse. Additionally, this clinical learning experience included provision for nursing academics to offer support and expertise to the aged care facility staff around the role of supervising and assessing final year nursing students' clinical learning. The aim of this paper is to present fifteen final year nursing students' and nine registered nurse supervisors' evaluations of the gerontology clinical learning experience and the success of the learning experience towards meeting the project aims. Mostly participants reported positive experiences and agreed the experience illuminated the role of the gerontology registered nurse. Participants in this study also provided suggestions about the benefits and barriers of the clinical learning experience.

Expensive simulation equipment continues to sit idle in nursing learning and teaching environments. To identify factors that influence nursing educator comfort in the use of simulation at an Australian university an explorative qualitative research project was undertaken using an interpretative constructivist methodology. The Goodwin et al. (2007) adapted Comfort Theory for nursing education has been used. The aim of the study was to identify factors that influence nurse educator's comfort in the use of simulation. Research question asked was: What are the barriers and enhancers to using simulation as a learning and teaching modality. Thematic analysis of data from focus groups on four different campus sites was undertaken. Four themes identified that affected participants' comfort in this study were: 1) Personal barriers; 2) Human resource barriers; 3) Structural barriers and 4) Suggestions to address barriers. Further understanding of the themes and how they relate to educator comfort with simulation are shared with the reader. The paper also outlines emerging recommendations to improve educator comfort.

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate peer-to-peer facilitated student led mid-level fidelity simulation experiences. Methods Second and third year nursing students (N = 637) were invited to complete a 16-item 6-point Likert scale questionnaire after the simulation experience. Results Students reported high self-confidence in their nursing skills (M = 4.14, SD = 0.92) and a high level of satisfaction in the learning they received during the peer-to-peer facilitated student led simulation experience (M = 4.42, SD = 0.93). Conclusion Using peer-to-peer teaching strategies during student led simulation experience is an effective approach for ensuring active engagement of all learners during midlevel fidelity group-based simulations and has the potential for broad applicability.