Concerns of Prelicensure Nursing Students Before a Maternal–Newborn Clinical Rotation

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe the concerns of prelicensure nursing students before their clinical rotation in the maternal–newborn setting. DesignQualitative descriptive design with one open-ended survey question. Setting/ProblemA private U.S. Midwest master’s entry prelicensure nursing program. Students’ concerns before beginning a maternal–newborn clinical rotation have not been fully explored in the literature and may differ from those reported by students in other clinical rotations. If not addressed, these concerns could negatively affect the clinical learning experience and hinder student success. ParticipantsPrelicensure nursing students enrolled in the Nursing Care of Women and Newborns course at an urban graduate college of nursing. Intervention/MeasurementsOn the first day of the course, students were asked to write on an index card their most pressing concern related to their upcoming maternal–newborn rotation. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Course directors analyzed the responses for themes and further divided them by setting: labor and birth, newborn, postpartum, generalized (concerns across maternal–newborn clinical areas), and miscellaneous (nonclinical concerns). ResultsA total of 130 concerns were reported by 125 students. Of these concerns, 47% (n = 62) were related to labor and birth, and 4.6% (n = 6) were related to caring for newborns; 40% (n = 51) were general clinical concerns, and 8.5% (n = 11) were of a nonclinical nature. No students in this study expressed concern about being assigned to care for individuals on the postpartum unit. Although some concerns were similar to those reported previously in the literature, others were unique to the maternal–newborn setting. ConclusionPrelicensure nursing students have concerns that are unique to the maternal–newborn setting. When student concerns are known before clinical rotations, course faculty, clinical instructors, and staff nurses can adapt strategies to reduce stress and improve the clinical learning environment for students so that they can be successful.