From Spreadsheet Workarounds to an Innovation Experiment: Co-Creating a Clinical Placement Planning Prototype in Nursing Education

The reform of nursing education in Germany increased demands on clinical placement planning. Within a publicly funded research and development (R&D) project supported by a state health ministry in Germany, a software prototype was iteratively developed at a University of Applied Sciences with a model region. Prior studies and practice reports suggest that existing digital tools mainly support school administration and that placement organisation often relies on manual or spreadsheet-based workarounds. The resulting web-based platform enables comprehensive placement planning in one integrated solution. In an initial evaluation (n=12), planners and practice coordinators rated usability and functionality positively, highlighting reduced effort, increased transparency, and improved coordination across training networks. Participants perceived that improved transparency, and coordination could support better use of existing training capacity, subject to local constraints. The findings underscore the relevance of a dedicated placement-planning solution distinct from conventional school administration software.