6 About attendance and rosters

Students are expected to attend clinical placements and undertake shift rosters in the same manner as the colleagues you are working with on placement.

Here is some important information about attendance and rosters.

• Attendance is recorded in your Clinical Assessment Portfolio.
• The required attendance for clinical placement is measured in hours.
• Clinical placement ‘hours’ includes clinical experience and clinical debriefing sessions. While valuable, library time and doing written university work during clinical placement are not to be counted as clinical time. Lunch or dinner breaks are not included in the calculation of attendance hours.
• Students take the same shift breaks as ordinarily provided to the preceptor. Example: 7:00hrs – 15:30hrs = 8.5 hours with 30 minutes allocated to break, therefore 8 hours of placement is recorded on attendance record.
• Attendance is required for all rostered shifts. Students are required to notify both the health facility and the Placement Office of all absences.
• Midwifery students placed within midwifery group practice settings may not have set shifts and hours, in which case, hours must be tallied as and when the student is attending care with the midwife.

There are some restrictions on shifts that a student can undertake.

• Students are required to contact the health facility prior to their first shift as advised by the Placement Office. This confirms you will be attending and to expect you. It also enables you to obtain a roster. If you have difficulties, contact the Placement Office as they are able to liaise on your behalf. Instructions for contacting – or not contacting – the health care facility are in the official email sent to you from the Placement Office
• Extending shifts beyond the ordinary start and finish time for the roster will not normally be accepted. You must obtain authorization from the Placement Office and Unit Coordinator prior to undertaking an extended shift.
• A shift in excess of 8 hours is not normally accepted unless this is the normal shift for that workplace and it has been authorised by both the Placement Office and the appropriate person acting for the Health Facility. However, midwifery students are permitted to stay with a woman in labour for up to 12 hours where the facility supports this.
• The Health Facility may roster students to weekends, public holidays and night shifts where the Health Facility deems there is an appropriate level of senior supervision. Midwifery students may be expected to be on-call for births.
• Students are expected to be available throughout the duration of the allocated placement across a 7-day roster attending a variety of shifts. Students are not permitted to request changes to rosters without first seeking authorisation from the Placement Office.
• Rosters should not exceed an average of 40 hours per week for the placement unless it has been authorised by the Health Facility and the Placement Office;
• Students must have their Clinical Assessment Portfolio while on placement. It must have the “Clinical Placement Agreement” signed prior to the first shift and be made available to the precepting staff.
• Leave of absence from you clinical placement to attend personal business is not permitted.
• Midwifery students may negotiate with the health care facility for one hour to attend a Continuity of Care appointment.