Student nurses on placement – collaborators or challengers

Abstract

Purpose – All nursing students have the opportunity to gain experience in the Independent Sector. The Health and Social Care Act (2012) in the UK has led to more health services being provided by the Independent Sector. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of first year student nurses of their learning experience in nursing homes placements within the Independent Sector. Design/methodology/approach – Two focus groups were undertaken with first year student nurses, one with six students and the other with seven students. All students had completed four week clinical placements in nursing homes. The focus groups were semi structured. Thematic analysis was undertaken on the data. Findings – Important themes that emerged from the data included: leadership issues, poor practice relating to infection control and manual handling, team dynamics, commitment to addressing issues when raised and challenges to raising issues within the placement area. The findings provided an insight into some of the barriers for student nurses when raising issues. The decision to raise concerns was multifactorial and complex. Attention was also focused on the relationship between the mentor and the student and the impact that can have on the learning environment. Research limitations/implications – The limitations for this study included: this was a small scale study, the findings were from a small number of placement areas within a small geographical area of the UK. Some students may have felt reluctant to share their views in a focus group. The findings reflect the views of first year student nurses only. However, first year students can provide an alternative view of a placement area. Their lack of experience can be an opportunity to question accepted norms with the mentor, acting as a resource of new ideas. Originality/value – This paper identified opportunities and challenges for student nurses and education providers alike. For the student it was the complexities of raising issues and for the education provider it was equipping students with the knowledge and skills to raise such issues not only as a student but also upon qualification.

Learning from nursing students' experiences and perceptions of their clinical placements in nursing homes: An integrative literature review

“…Nursing students' experiences of working alongside RNs was highlighted throughout the literature. However, the results revealed that in reality, students spend a great deal of time working alongside health care assistants (HCA) in nursing homes and that this negatively impacts their placement experiences (Xiao et al, 2012;Annear et al, 2014;Clarke, 2015) and their ability to understand the role of nursing home RN (Moquin et al, 2018;Watson et al, 2020). This illustrates the priority that nursing students place on developing their professional identities through the process of socialisation alongside RNs in nursing homes (Neville et al, 2014).…”

“…The studies reviewed indicated that some students were unclear about what RNs in nursing homes do (Skaalvik et al, 2012;Clarke, 2015;Moquin et al,2018) resulting in reduced confidence for achieving learning outcomes compared to an acute hospital placement (Indar et al, 2018;Watson et al, 2020). Clarke ( 2015…”