Impact of Clinical Placement on Nursing Practice
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Introduction
Clinical placement in the nursing practice is any arrangement in which nurses spend time in a professional practice environment that provides healthcare services to the public. Clinical placement aims to enable students to acquire the skills and competencies required to become a professional. During the clinical placement, students learn through actively participating in patient care or observing the healthcare processes. The learning takes place in social, community, primary or secondary settings. Clinical placements are a crucial part of a student’s academic life. Through the practical sessions, students learn aspects such as physiotherapy and can be known through the experiences gained. During the placement, learners can work with different healthcare professionals, which boosts their communication skills and their ability to collaborate with others.
Pre-registration nurse education ensures that students are well skilled and have the confidence to interact with patients and provide quality care. Students are expected to spend half of the program offering direct nursing care. They can apply what was learned in the classroom setting and use the knowledge in advancing their practice. The best way to practice is normally to practice what you learn. Clinical placement puts students in real-life situations, and the pressure helps them to solve complex problems. Through practice, students master the art of time management by learning how to prioritize tasks. Learners also get experience in utilizing new technology that improves efficiency in clinical settings. The issues that arise within the pre-registration education are concerned with how to fit the students are for practice by the time of their registration.
Impact of Clinical Placement on Nursing Practice
References
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Nursing Student’s Perception of Clinical Placement
During the first clinical placement, nursing students go with a lot of expectations some of which are never met (1). Most of the students are usually enthusiastic and excited about their first placement. They go with expectations to gain skills and knowledge in their field of study. Students expect to get mentors who take them through the clinical environment. They also expect to meet a team of overly supportive professionals (3). The students’ projection is to have developed competencies and establish a professional identity by the end of the first placement. Some of these expectations end up unmet due to unforeseen challenges in the environment of placement. When students report to their clinical placements they get stressors arising from the healthcare facility’s culture. Adjusting to the culture and the social rules of the placement can be strenuous to some students. They have to attain a balance between meeting the demands in the busy wards and adjusting to the environment. Several studies have reported that the complexity in the clinical environment has induced anxiety in most nursing students (2). The anxiety arising from the practicum experience leads to ineffective learning, increased burnout, poor performance, and increases attrition rates in nursing school. However, some students cope with the environmental demands due to their high resilience power and self-motivated strategies. It is recommended that supervisors and other educators recognize the existence of the stressors in the practicum environment. They should offer support to ensure students adapt easily to the clinical environment. They should impose strategies and interventions to mitigate anxiety and encourage student confidence.
Impact of Clinical Placement Model
Clinical placements use different models to place students in facilities. The most common models are the block and distributed approaches (4). The model chosen depends on several variables. The primary purpose of the placement can influence the model chosen due to the difference in disciplines. The length of the practicum is another factor that influences how students are placed in facilities. Some facilities are specific on the mode of working, whether part-time or full-time. Other factors include the student’s capabilities, the primary activities, the location, and the educator ratio. The block placement involves pairing students with registered nurses for a specific period of weeks either during the semester breaks or within the study period. The distributed placement requires students to attend classes as they attend the placements. They can have a schedule of having classes on some days of the week and on the other days they go for their practicum. During the clinical placement, supervision is crucial (5). The innovative clinical model is said to offer a sense of belonging to students as well as give increased learning opportunities to students. Preceptors in the supervision model feel prepared for the role after the clinical placement although they battle a lack of recognition for supervision. In the collaborative model, one educator supervises two or more students (6). In this model, students feel supported by one another, develop increased confidence, and gain teamwork skills. Students practice skills with each other and develop problem-solving skills. However, they need to be self-initiative as the supervisor is rarely available.
Impact of Clinical Placement on Nursing Practice
International Fieldwork Placement
Educational facilities offer students optional international placements (7). These placements can only be organized during the second year in the final three weeks, and are fully funded by the students. Students have been more positive about international placements as one gets diverse knowledge and experience. The placements offer students a unique opportunity to develop cultural competence skills (8). However, these placements require students to have been in a healthcare setting and have been exposed to different ranges of patients. Despite the investment in international placement being involving in terms of cost and time, students report being impressed with the depth of learning involved. The selected location has a great impact on the experience level gained. Rural nursing requires high levels of competence. Therefore, students who select rural areas as their international placements end-up more competent and confident. Reports show that students who lack confidence select metropolitan areas in their placement period (8). It is required that educators encourage students to participate in rural placements to ensure students have a wide range of expertise. Students need to adjust to the rural environment and grow resilience at the place of work. The clinical placements cause resilience in many students. They may feel dissatisfied with the mode of clinical placement but grow resilience either through the influence of self-administered (9). Results show that the supervisor’s professional skills contribute to the student’s satisfaction with clinical placement. Moreover, (9) relates resilience to social media use. Social networking affects the students’ interaction and influences resilience within the team.
Interprofessional Clinical Education
Interprofessional education involves collaborative learning between learners and educators from different health disciplines. This kind of education enforces the development of vast knowledge and skills. Rarely do students from different professionals know the other’s roles. Interprofessional learning allows learners to understand different roles within the healthcare setting (11). One way to enforce interprofessional education is during clinical placements. The placements prepare students to work in a collaborative environment. IPE (Interprofessional Education), enhances the quality of care by reducing the length of stay, medical errors, and lowers the cost of healthcare provision. The structures put in place by facilities to support collaborative workflows contribute to the success of IPE. During collaborative teamwork experiences, students learn how different professionals work. It is believed that communication and liaison improve the patients’ experience. WHO has specifically emphasized the need for inter-professional interactions. One of the ways IPE is emphasized is through training and workshops (10). Students from different disciplines learn from each other during the inter-professional workshops. During the workshops, students explore the roles of others, practice teamwork communication, and learn how to practically manage clinical cases collaboratively. Moreover, supervisors need to offer support to students during their placement. Mentors play a vital role in teaching and supporting students during the practical experience (12). They teach the students, facilitate and encourage them during their learning period. The problem-based kind of learning is usually used to reach an individual student’s weaknesses. Mentors need to go through progressive training to accommodate the changing nature of nursing programs.
Sustaining Clinical Placements
Clinical experience is essential in the nursing practice. However, there is a lack of clinical placements to sustain the demands (13). There has been a reported challenge in procuring clinical placements. The challenge is due to the increased university cohorts leading educational providers to seek placements in nontraditional facilities. The expanding nature of the nursing professional puts nursing students at risk of lacking placements (15). The effort to improve clinical placements has led to improving streamlined communication with universities to help optimize the placement (14). It takes collaborations, partnerships, and efficient communication between universities and placement facilities to optimize the process. Universities should make requests precise to the facilities, and facilities ought to communicate about placement opportunities. Research needs to be done on strategies that need to be put in place to ensure the success of clinical placements. Students need to get the necessary knowledge and skills to help them enhance their career goals. Educators also need to prepare students for clinical placements to ensure smooth learning. Additionally, educators and supervisors need to provide support to students during the placements to optimize the learning period.
Impact of Clinical Placement on Nursing Practice
Question
Compile a list of 15 references in your chosen topic area. You should prioritise scholarly and reputable references (for instance academic journal articles, academic books, reports from government bodies, or reports from reputable national or international organisations or institutions). The references identified must be relevant to your chosen topic.
Format your list of 15 references into a reference list, according to Vancouver Style.
In an introduction paragraph (no more than 250 words), introduce the reader to your topic area and your key arguments.
For each of your 3 references, provide a one-paragraph summary (5 paragraphs in total). These summaries should be in full sentence form, but should be very concise (no more than 250 words). See the UOW Library Annotated Bibliography Guide provided on Moodle
In the document you submit, these 5 paragraphs should be presented AFTER the full list of 15 references. You do not need to provide an additional reference list, as you will already have supplied this at the front of your document.
Word length: 1500 word