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Virtual clinical placements: UK uni supports learning overseas

Nursing students to be offered Coventry University module based on NMC standards of proficiency but tailored to their nations’s healthcare system
Nursing student reads from a tablet computer as students in Indonesia are offered UK virtual placement

Nursing students to be offered Coventry University module based on NMC standards of proficiency but tailored to their nations’s healthcare system

Nursing student reads from a tablet computer as students in Indonesia are offered UK virtual placement
Picture: Alamy

Virtual training is being developed for nursing students in Indonesia that has the potential to help them practise in the UK.

It takes the form of a simulated placement set in an emergency department and covers the four fields of nursing. It is designed to enable students to immerse themselves in scenarios they might encounter in practice.

The virtual simulated nursing placement is created by Coventry University alongside 38 nursing teaching sites in Indonesia for the Indonesian Ministry of Health.

Virtual scenarios, created by nurses from Indonesia and the UK, will be tailored to the specific needs of nurses in Indonesia but are based on the Nursing and Midwifery Council standards of proficiency.

Uniform experience for all nursing students

The university’s school of nursing, midwifery and health associate professor Natasha Taylor said: ‘This virtual placement is bespoke – the healthcare needs in Indonesia are different from in the UK and those taking part will experience Indonesian settings and Indonesian patients. 

‘The placement gives students the chance to put their decision-making into action, but it’s also about teamwork and coming up with a plan. One of the benefits of this approach is that it is an identical experience for all students, in a traditional physical placement one student may experience a range of different healthcare scenarios, but another may experience none.’

The training can be delivered via a range of digital devices, including a tablet or a virtual reality headset.

Fresh focus on overseas recruitment to get UK nurse numbers up

Health and social care secretary Sajid Javid has pledged the NHS would recruit 10,000 nurses from overseas by the end of March.

Indonesia is outside the World Health Organization’s red list of countries that should not be the target for nurse recruitment by foreign health systems.

However, a report by the International Council of Nurses urged the government not to strip less affluent nations of their nurses to bolster the NHS.


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