University of Dundee nursing students pilot digital tool to track learning

Nursing students at the University of Dundee have been trying out a new digital tool developed by NES Technology Service and the NES Nursing and Midwifery pre-registration and practice education team, to track their practice learning progress and achievements digitally throughout placements.

The ePad (Electronic Placement Assessment Documents) app has been designed to replace a 350-page version that University of Dundee students would traditionally use to record their progress in their studies and achievement of learning outcomes at the placements.

Morag Robertson, senior product manager, NES Technology Service, said: “The e-Pad app is built using cloud based technology, specifically the Microsoft Azure platform, and the software if supported by the .NET Framework. It captures evidence which supports skills, procedures and proficiencies demonstrated during a student placement and retains standardised wording required by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

“All e-Pad activity is led by the student nurse, who can provide access to supervisors and assessors via their Turas account. Feedback has been extremely positive, a big plus is that e-Pad rather than the paper pad means that students on virtual placements can be supported too.”

It can be accessed via laptop or mobile device through the Turas learning and management platform for health and social care. As well as logging learning outcomes and evidence students can also upload documents to their personal library. Educators can review, provide feedback and sign off student submissions via the digital tool.

Julie Smith, practice learning lead, University of Dundee, said: “The convenience of e-Pad has been welcomes by our students who previously had to carry around huge folders of paperwork on their nursing placements. Likewise, staff have commented on the benefits of being able to easily review and provide feedback to students during their placements.”

November 2023 also saw the news that the Dundee Institute for Healthcare Simulation, part of the University of Dundee, was working with the National Robotarium of Heriot-Watt University to build an EI-empowered system to support trainee surgeons in completely their laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery training.