Abstract
Background: Nursing students hesitate to choose aged care as a career, and the aged care sectors are on an edge regarding nursing positions. Clinical learning environments may influence nursing students’ career choices. Few studies have explored learning environments in nursing homes, although students increasingly have placements there. Objectives: The aim was to produce information for developing nursing students’ learning opportunities in nursing homes. Design: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Settings: The study was conducted at a university college in southeast Norway. Participants: Students in two cohorts of a bachelor degree program in nursing participated, N = 499. Methods: Data were collected on nursing students’ perceptions of clinical learning environments during placements in five nursing homes. A 42-item validated questionnaire with the subscales personalization, individualization, involvement, task orientation, innovation, and satisfaction was used. Data analysis used descriptive statistics, t-tests, and linear regression analysis. Results: Total scores showed overall satisfaction with clinical learning environments in nursing homes. However, innovation subscale scores were very low. First year students had significantly higher scores than third year students on the total scale, and most subscales. Age was significantly associated with total scale scores and subscale satisfaction scores. Higher education and work experience before entering nursing education were significantly associated with involvement subscale scores. Conclusions: Students are more positive than negative about their clinical learning environments. Low valuation of innovation seems to be a consistent finding in studies in both nursing homes and hospitals internationally. For innovative learning strategies to function they must be anchored at the organizational level. Future research should develop and test more innovative learning strategies for nursing students.
Highlights
Learning in clinical practice is an important component of nursing education
Limited numbers of nurses work in aged care, and compared to hospitals, positions for nurses in nursing homes have a low ratio per patient
This study explored first and third year nursing students’ perceptions of learning environments in several nursing homes
Summary
Learning in clinical practice is an important component of nursing education. In many European countries, approximately 50% of the curriculum is allocated to teaching and learning in clinical placements [1] [2]. Poor recruitment and difficulties in retaining nurses in nursing homes are a common situation worldwide This threatens the quality of aged care, as well as nursing students’ clinical learning opportunities [7] [8] [12]-[17]. Few studies have explored learning environments in nursing homes, students increasingly have placements there. Methods: Data were collected on nursing students’ perceptions of clinical learning environments during placements in five nursing homes. Results: Total scores showed overall satisfaction with clinical learning environments in nursing homes. Higher education and work experience before entering nursing education were significantly associated with involvement subscale scores. To be able to learn nursing care in clinical settings, students need to experience both contexts as well as appropriate opportunities for adequate guidance to connect performance and learning [20] [21].
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