Orientation to a Rural Health Agency

Orientation Day is the most important day of the clinical practice experience. It is the day that students and supervisors make and gain their first impressions of each other. It is the day that the ground rules are set, and it is the day that the rest of the experience pivots upon. Preparing for Orientation Day is an important activity.

Most people think about orientation in terms of the general layout of the workspace; the people, routine, policy and procedures. Students, however, are usually trying to ‘fit in’ and so will be on the lookout for the hidden rules and norms of the workplace. Tutorials are always full of stories about student ‘clangers’ during their first clinical practice experience. They serve to illustrate how important seemingly simple things are to a student’s sense of confidence. Here are a few examples:

• Sitting in the wrong chair
• Drinking out of the wrong cup
• Tidying up a workspace
• Wearing the wrong shoes
• Not wearing a tie
• Wearing perfume
• Calling staff members by their first name

When preparing for orientation (see our sample orientation program) it is useful for students and supervisors to think about these hidden aspects of the workplace.

Some formal strategies for the Schools include:

• Developing clear and understandable learning objectives for rural placement experiences.
• Providing health care professionals with access to a wide range of information, education and resources to support rural clinical supervision.
• Providing health care professionals with comprehensive and ongoing support during periods when students are undertaking rural placements.

Some formal strategies for supervisors include:

• Forming a preliminary plan for the student’s practicum.
• Letting everyone in the workplace know that a student is coming.
• Introducing the student to all staff using the preferred form of address.
• Providing the student with copies of relevant documentation.
• Pointing out areas such as the kiosk, toilets, local shop, library, computer.
• Plan for any cultural/race/disability issues that you have been apprised of in relation to the student.
• Providing the student with a name badge.
• Making dress and behaviour codes clear at the time of orientation.

Some formal strategies for students include:

• Introducing themselves to staff on arrival.
• Familiarising themselves to the work environment.
• Seeking out workplace policies and standards and becoming familiar with them.
• Being aware of the learning objectives of the rural placement.
• Being aware of their own learning objectives and ways of achieving them.
• Actively seeking out and pursuing learning opportunities.

It is easy to forget that students are not only newcomers to the rural health care agency, but to the rural community as whole. There are many ways that orientation to a rural community can be achieved. A group of Tasmanian nursing students recently published a journal article that describes their experience of undertaking a rural placement in a rural community.