Clinical learning environment of nursing and midwifery students in Ghana

Abstract

Background Data on student experience of the clinical learning environment in Ghana are scarce. We therefore aimed to assess students’ evaluation of the clinical learning environment and the factors that influence their learning experience.Methods This was a cross-sectional survey of 225 undergraduate nursing and midwifery students. We used the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision + Nurse Teacher (CLES +T) evaluation scale to assess students’ experience of their clinical placement. The association between student demographic characteristics and clinical placement experience was determined using t-test or ANOVA.Results Most of the sampled students were Nurses (67%) and in the third year of training (81%). More students received supervision from a nurse (57%) during clinical placement and team supervision (67%) was the most common during clinical placement. Nursing students were more likely to rate their clinical experience better than midwifery students (p=0.002). Students who had increased contact with private supervisors were also more likely to rate their experience higher (p=0.002). Clinical experience was also rated higher by students who received successful supervision compared to those who had unsuccessful or team supervision (p=0.001).Conclusion Team supervision is high in health facilities where students undertake clinical placement in Ghana. Frequent contact with private supervisor and successful supervision are associated with better rating of clinical experience among Ghanaian undergraduate nursing and midwifery students.

Factors Associated with Nursing Student Satisfaction with Their Clinical Learning Environment at Wolkite University in Southwest Ethiopia

“…e reason behind this may be due that their satisfaction increased as students progressed through the program that the higher-year students expressed higher confidence in clinical knowledge and skills. On the contrary, a study conducted in Ghana found that the mean CLES + T score was not associated with the year of study even though third-year students had higher scores than fourth-year students [1]. Our findings highlight that the satisfaction with a CLE of nursing students is associated with the type of hospital in which their last clinical placement was held.…”

“…Contrary to this, the most satisfactory area for student nurses was the leadership style (1.44) of their mentors in their clinical learning environment, and they were least satisfied with the student-nurse relationship (1.41) and content context balance (1.41) in their clinical learning environment [27]. Furthermore, a study conducted in Ghana demonstrated that the most satisfactory area for student nurses was the leadership style of the ward manager (3.63) [1]. e differences in mean scores in dimensions of the CLES + T were found in different studies that we reviewed.…”

“…A clinical learning environment (CLE) is an environment where clinical skills are acquired by direct or indirect supervision by preceptors and nurse teachers that are both facilitators and responsible for the student's learning in clinical settings. In nursing, the CLE is an essential part of developing skills and integrating theoretical knowledge, clinical practice, and professionalism [1][2][3][4].…”

“…e preference for the practice center, the mean student grade, the distance to the practice center, the number of students assigned to the clinical educator, the type of service, the type of center, and the type of management were the factors influencing satisfaction with their CLE [1,18,23].…”

“…Many researchers explored the different factors that contributed to the successful development of competencies over the course of clinical placement. e followings are the main learning domains affecting student nurses, ward atmosphere (WA), the leadership of the ward manager (WM), and a supervisory relationship with a nurse teacher (NT) [1,3,15,17,[24][25][26][27][28].…”