Teaching and supporting nursing students on clinical placements: Doing the right thing

Abstract

Problem: Pre registration nursing students do not always feel supported by Registered Nurses during their clinical placements. To help develop and refine clinical skills, in order to deliver safe, competent nursing care, nursing students rely on Registered Nurses to teach and support them in their clinical learning. Background: Pre-registration nursing students in Australia must undertake a minimum of 800 clinical placement hours as part of their undergraduate nursing education. Registered Nurses are required to provide professional development and to teach and support students during these clinical placements. Little is known about Registered Nurses' understanding of this nursing standard requirement. Aim: To explore Registered Nurses' understanding of the nursing standard requirement to provide professional development to pre-registration nursing students during their clinical placements. Methods: A Grounded Theory study was used involving in-depth semi-structured individual interviews to gather data from fifteen Registered Nurse participants. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyse the data and it was from this data analysis that the substantive theory emerged. Findings: The substantive theory developed as a result of this research is titled, Doing the Right Thing Doing the Right Thing. The core category, the right thing to do the right thing to do, is informed by four elements; sense of responsibility sense of responsibility, an added added extra extra, choice choice , and nursing standard nursing standard. Conclusion: Registered Nurses are motivated to teach and support nursing students on clinical placements because they believe it is the right thing to do.

Strategies to develop student support mechanisms in medical radiation sciences clinical education

“…47 Though research from other health professions shows students do not always feel supervision is provided in a supportive manner. 48 According to the Australian professional capabilities for medical radiation practitioners 49 (page 18), Australian practitioners are expected to 'use appropriate strategies to effectively supervise students in the work environment and deliver feedback (verbal and written) to the student and the education provider on their performance'. This is an important recognition of the important role qualified mentors play in the development of coping mechanisms including learning ways to stay safe, identifying and managing stress and other demands not directly related to clinical placement.…”

The influence of a self‐determination theory grounded clinical placement on nursing student's therapeutic relationship skills: A pre‐test/post‐test study

“…Engagement in clinical placements as support for the educational development of undergraduate nurses is supported by a wealth of literature (Anderson et al . 2018; Birks et al . 2017; Patterson et al .…”

“…To assist students with successfully navigating the clinical environment, RNs are expected to guide their learning and education (Anderson et al . 2018). This is also emphasized in the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Board's standards of practice, which states ‘The RN actively fosters a culture of safety and learning that includes engaging with health professionals and others, to share knowledge and practice that supports person‐centred care’ (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2016, Standard 2.7).…”

“…Engagement in clinical placements as support for the educational development of undergraduate nurses is supported by a wealth of literature (Anderson et al 2018;Birks et al 2017;Patterson et al 2016). Previous research has found while clinical placements do provide opportunities for growth and development, not all placements are equally as effective (Moxam et al 2016).…”

Providing Clinical Safety and Security for Nursing Students: Spontaneous Learning

“…Several studies have focused on the broad dimensions of psychosocial factors. As a result of a study in Australia in 2018 by Anderson et al it was shown that nursing students are not supported by nursing staff because nurses are not aware of their educational responsibilities towards students (13). The results of a study in Jamaica in 2015, by Lawal et al, showed that more than half of the students believed that the clinical environments were not a friendly environment and that it was necessary to correct these environments (14).…”