Aims and objectives To examine registered nurses' self‐evaluation of their competence in mentoring nursing students in clinical practice. Background Clinical mentors have significant roles and responsibility for nursing students' clinical learning. Moreover, the mentors' role is becoming increasingly important internationally, as the role of nurse teachers in mentoring students in clinical practice has declined. However, in most EU countries there are no specific educational requirements for clinical mentors, although they need targeted education to increase their competence in mentoring nursing students. Design The systematic review of quantitative studies was designed according to guidelines of the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and PRISMA protocol. Methods Studies published during 2000–2019 that met inclusion criteria formulated in PiCOS format were systematically reviewed by three independent reviewers. CINAHL (Ebsco), PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus, ERIC and Medic databases were used to retrieve the studies. Three independent reviewers conducted the systematic review process. The studies were tabulated, thematically compared and narratively reported. Results In total, 16 peer‐reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies identified various dimensions of mentors´ competence and associated environmental factors. Generally, participating mentors rated competences related to the clinical environment, mentoring, supporting students' learning processes and relevant personal characteristics fairly high. They also rated organisational practices in their workplaces, resources in the clinical environment and their mentor–student and mentor–stakeholder pedagogical practices, as respectable or satisfactory. Conclusion The results indicate considerable scope for improving mentors' competence, particularly through enhancing organisational mentoring practices and relevant resources in clinical environments. Relevance for clinical practice Pedagogical practices of mentors in relations with both students and stakeholders should be enhanced to improve future nurses' learning. This systematic review addresses a gap in knowledge of mentors' self‐evaluated competence that could assist the formulation of effective educational programmes for mentors internationally and improving clinical environments.

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Aims: This study aimed to explore nursing and midwifery students' evaluation of the clinical learning environment and mentoring and to identify distinct student profiles relating to their perceptions.Design: This study employed a cross-sectional design. Settings:The study population included nursing and midwifery students in a university hospital in Finland.Participants: All nursing and midwifery students who completed their clinical placement were invited to take part in the study in the academic year 2017-2018. Methods:The data (N=2609) were gathered through an online survey using the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher scale. The data were analyzed using a K-mean cluster algorithm to identify nursing and midwifery students' profiles. Results:The findings from this study indicate four distinct profiles (A, B, C and D) of nursing and midwifery students in relation to the clinical learning environment and mentoring. Profile A (N=1352) students evaluated their clinical learning environment and mentoring to the highest level (mean varied from 9.44 to 8.38); and Profile D (N=151)-to the lowest (mean varied from 5.93 to 4.00). Conclusion:The findings highlight that nursing and midwifery students evaluate their clinical learning environment and mentoring more highly when: they have a named mentor, student and mentor discuss learning goals, there is a final assessment in clinical learning, the mentor's guidance skills support student learning, the clinical learning supports the student's Accepted ArticleThis article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved professional development and pre-clinical teaching in an educational institution supports learning in the clinical placement. Impact: Clinical learning plays an important role in nurse and midwifery education.Mentoring of clinical practice was shown to have a great influence on students' perceptions of their success in clinical learning. We suggest that clinical practice should be strengthened by the building of collaboration between nursing teachers and registered nurses.

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Antti-Tuomas Heinonen: conception and design, acquisition of data and analysis, interpretation of data, drafting the article by revising it critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version submitted. Maria Kääriäinen and Jonna Juntunen: drafting the article by revising it critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version submitted. Kristina Mikkonen: conception and design, data analysis, interpretation of data, drafting the article by revising it critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version submitted. Acknowledgement We would like to thank the students who took time to share their experiences.