The "Float" Clinical Placement: 

The Problem:
Clinical education accounts for one-third of entry to practice Canadian MSc(PT) curricula. Canadian MSc(PT) programs must ensure they have completed clinical placements across Acute/Hospital Care, Rehabilitation/Community Care, and Ambulatory Care/Private Practice settings. Acquiring sufficient clinical placement opportunities in healthcare programs to meet demand has become increasingly difficult. In March of 2020, based on Public Health directives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical placements for health professional students were suspended across Canada. When clinical placements could resume, given the climate of uncertainty and pressures in hospital settings securing acute care placements presented even greater challenges. 

The Gap:
To increase the number of acute care placement opportunities, innovative models, such as a two-student-to-one supervisor ratio, have been explored. However given that stress and perceived workload have been identified as barriers to student supervision, there is a need to explore alternative models. Use of a team approach to clinical supervision has been shown to support the accumulation of placements. We explored the use of a team approach, across multiple hospital units with the development of an acute care float clinical placement. This model had not been used previously in the McMaster Physiotherapy Program, and there is little to no literature exploring the use of similar models in Canadian Physiotherapy Programs. 

The Innovation: the Development & Execution of a Full-Time 'Float' Clinical Placement
This was created using a shared supervision model by multiple CIs across multiple hospital units. In contrast to literature that describes the typical ‘float' staff positions, in this float model the student moved across units based on CI supervision availability, rather than patient surges and staff shortages.

Why Others Should Try This:
Float placements afford the support of a clinical team and may be a strategy to increase the number of acute care placements offered by reducing the CI stress. A multiple CI approach can also decrease the overall time commitment required from individual CIs and may increase the number of clinicians willing and available to offer placement supervision. The float placement also helps to fill a program requirement while providing students with experiences that may mirror employment opportunities upon graduation.