KLUe - Clinical Education Unit

A Clinical Education Unit (KLUe) is a collaboration between NTNU and Ålesund municipality, focusing on nursing practice in the primary care service for nursing students.

To be designated as a Clinical Education Unit, the facility must satisfy a set of quality criteria. 

KLUe is the product of a collaborative effort between representatives from the Department of Health Science at NTNU in Ålesund, Team Health in Ålesund municipality, healthcare managers in nursing homes and home care districts, and the Centre for Development of Nursing Homes and Home Care Services - Møre og Romsdal (USHT).

Background 
Clinical education units (KLUe) is a term adopted from the international literature and is a Norwegian translation of the term Dedicated Education Unit. This can be defined as an arena for development of concrete, practical learning activities, knowledge transfer, as well as quality and development work.

The purpose of the project 
We want to close the gap between teaching institutions and the practice field through initiatives and activities that ensure a sound learning environment for nursing students, in ways that promote and develop nursing practice and nursing research.

We believe students should feel more included in a professional environment during their practice as they gain clinical experience. This requires increased cooperation between nurse teachers and supervisors on how to facilitate learning in practice. Students should take part in quality work and professional development projects that are ongoing in the municipality. In the long term, we hope to promote both recruitment and retention of nurses in the municipal health service.

Previous research 
There is limited documentation of this type of collaborative project between institutions of higher education and the practice field, such as the municipal health services in Norway. We need more knowledge about what may contribute to improving the collaboration, and stakeholder benefits.

Quality indicators for KLUe 
The working group has identified quality indicators that should characterize a KLUe unit.