Teaching and supporting nursing students on clinical placements: Doing the right thing

Abstract

Problem: Pre registration nursing students do not always feel supported by Registered Nurses during their clinical placements. To help develop and refine clinical skills, in order to deliver safe, competent nursing care, nursing students rely on Registered Nurses to teach and support them in their clinical learning. Background: Pre-registration nursing students in Australia must undertake a minimum of 800 clinical placement hours as part of their undergraduate nursing education. Registered Nurses are required to provide professional development and to teach and support students during these clinical placements. Little is known about Registered Nurses’ understanding of this nursing standard requirement. Aim: To explore Registered Nurses’ understanding of the nursing standard requirement to provide professional development to pre-registration nursing students during their clinical placements. Methods: A Grounded Theory study was used involving in-depth semi-structured individual interviews to gather data from fifteen Registered Nurse participants. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyse the data and it was from this data analysis that the substantive theory emerged. Findings: The substantive theory developed as a result of this research is titled, Doing the Right Thing. The core category, the right thing to do, is informed by four elements; sense of responsibility, an added extra, choice, and nursing standard. Conclusion: Registered Nurses are motivated to teach and support nursing students on clinical placements because they believe it is the right thing to do.