The relationship between student learning outcomes from their clinical placement and their perceptions of the social climate of the clinical learning environment

Abstract

Rationale: Clinical learning is an integral part of nursing education; yet, clinical education has been problematic. Various studies have suggested that not all practice settings are able to provide nursing students with a positive learning environment. In order to maximize nursing students’ clinical learning outcomes, there is a need to examine the clinical learning environment.Aim: To investigate the relationship between student learning outcomes from their clinical placement and their perceptions of the social climate of the clinical learning environment.Method: The Clinical Learning Environment Inventory was used to collect data in the survey study. Returning of the completed questionnaires implied consent to participate. The final sample group consisted of 108 second-year nursing students undertaking clinical placement in 14 metropolitan hospitals in South Australia.Results: Findings from the study suggested that students’ perceptions of the outcomes of their clinical placement are strongly associated with all five scales of the CLEI namely; Individualisation, Innovation, Involvement, Personalisation and Task Orientation. It is interesting to note that students who perceived the outcomes of their clinical placement as greatly positive, have placed high expectations on the scale, Task Orientation. The study also found that there were significant differences between students’ perceptions of the actual clinical learning environment with their preferred clinical learning environment.Implications: The value of this study lies in the resulting implication for nursing education and future research. A better understanding of what constitutes quality clinical education from the students’ perspective would be valuable in providing better educational experiences.