A review of the evidence for the maximization of clinical placement opportunities through interprofessional collaboration

Interprofessional collaboration has been suggested as a potential solution to clinical placement shortages. This review was designed to compile the evidence on the use of interprofessional and nursing intraprofessional collaboration to maximize clinical placement opportunities for undergraduate/pre-licensure health professional students. A worldwide search of the published and grey literature was conducted, supplemented by 28 interviews across Canada. Results revealed only two articles, both in nursing – one that described an intraprofessional nursing collaboration consisting of a clinical placement consortium for finding placements, and one that described a unique program that provided a seamless transition from a practice nurse program to associate degree nursing program and that included collaboration with clinical placements. The interviews revealed various types of collaborations designed to maximize placements and various mechanisms by which these collaborations served to maximize placements including easing the pressure to find preceptors and increasing the number of placements. The authors concluded that while collaborations exist specifically to maximize placements, at least in Canada, it was neither happening within the context of research nor being formally evaluated. More evaluation is needed in order to clarify the evidence by which collaboration works or does not work to maximize placement opportunities.