Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Clinical Nursing Training in Selected Nursing Programmes in Enugu State
CHAPTER ONE
Objective Of Study
- Determine the nursing students’ opinion on their placement in the clinical setting (clinical learning environment).
- Ascertain the nursing students’ view about clinical teaching.
- Ascertain the students’ view about clinical supervision.
- Assess the students’ perception of clinical evaluation.
- Determine the students’ overall perception of clinical nursing training.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the review of relevant and existing literatures as they relate to the nursing students’ perceptions of the clinical nursing education. It was presented and discussed under the following subheadings:
Conceptual Review
- Nursing Education
- Clinical Nursing Trainin
- Perception
Theoretical Review
James Gibson’s Ecological Theory of Perception
Empirical review
Summary of reviewed literatures
Conceptual Review
Concept of Nursing Education
Functionally and operationally, “education” is a process which draws out the best in the individual with the aim of producing well balanced personalities, culturally defined, emotionally stable, ethically sound, mentally alert, morally upright, vocationally self-sufficient and internationally liberal (Basavanthappa, 2009). It is also the formal process of deliberate transmission of accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another (May & Akikitnan, 2003). Basavanthappa (2002) affirms that an educated person is not dependent on the information they store in their heads because they have ability do find information, create knowledge and develop skills when necessary. The result is an educated person, a person who is able to perceive accurately, think clearly and act effectively on self-selected goals and aspiration.
Nursing education can be referred to as the formal learning and training in the science of nursing, which includes the functions and disciplines that accelerate the patient’s return to health and helps maintain it. It is the theoretical and practical training provided to student nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as future nursing care professionals. This education is provided to nursing students by experienced nurses and other medical professionals who have qualified for educational tasks (Adah, 2012). Adah (2012) further stated that all nursing education programmes have a clinical component in which students are supervised by clinicians in the clinical setting.
Nursing education therefore is all about impacting the integral nursing knowledge of theories, principles, facts, concepts and acquisition of necessary and appropriate skills and proficiency to practice the profession. That is why nursing is seen as a science and an art. Thus, the two are inseparable. They must go together in order to train a well balanced nurse who will perform proficiently in the clinical area anywhere in nursing field. While the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, principles, facts, concepts occur in classroom setting during the teaching – learning interaction (process), the acquisition of the required skills and proficiency to practice occur during clinical training which occur in the hospital setting, community setting or else where outside classroom setting.
American Nurses Association (2012) stated that the aims of nursing education include: Provision of opportunities for both in and out of hospital, continuing education programmes that increase knowledge and skills thereby enhancing quality care; Provision of resource materials which are evidence based in order to keep all personnel informed and updated on current practices in health care; Supporting research council; Providing changed nurses and managers with leadership development programmes; Provision of framework and support for mentors and clinical ladder nurse and Provision of necessary orientation and training to all our new employees. Basavanthappa (2009) further stated the general aims of nursing education as thus: Nursing manpower development; Leadership; Personality development; Professional development of each individual nurse; Ongoing research; Knowledge.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODS
This chapter presents the following: research design, area of study, population of the study, sample and sampling technique, instrument for data collection, validation of instrument, reliability of instrument, ethical consideration, the procedures for data collection and methods of data analysis.
Research Design
A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. This design was considered appropriate for the present study because it allowed the investigator to describe the current and prevailing information about nursing student’s perception of clinical training and reveal areas that need change. The design was successfully used by Okpala, Iheanacho, Okoronkwo and Stephens (2014) in a study of Students’ Perception of Environment Sanitation: a study of a Nigerian university.
Area of study
The area of study is in Enugu State located in the South East geopolitical zone and is one of the thirty- six states constituting the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Enugu state derives its name from the capital city Enugu (top of the hill) which is regarded as the oldest urban area in the Igbo speaking area of south-east Nigeria. The city owes its geopolitical significance to the discovery of coal in 1909 by a team of British geologists. The state shares borders with Abia State and Imo State to the south, Ebonyi State to the east, Benue state to the northeast, Kogi State to the northwest and Anambra State to the west (Federal Republic of Nigeria Population Census, 2006). Economically, the state is predominantly rural and agrarian. In the urban areas, trading is the dominant occupation followed by services, mostly the public service. Administratively, the state is administered at two levels of government the state and local government. There are 17 Local Government Areas with council headquarters located in each, some of which include: Enugu North, Enugu South, Nsukka etc (Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics, 2008).
In Enugu state, health care services can be obtained at several institutions-state government for example, Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), federal government for example University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, private hospitals for example Niger Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Centre and mission hospitals for example Bishop Shanahan Hospital Nsukka. Most of the nurses working in these health care institutions were trained in the nursing schools situated in the state. Majority of the nursing education programmes in the state are situated at UNTH Enugu, ESUTH Parklane Enugu, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), National Orthopedic Hospital Enugu, and Bishop Shanahan Hospital Nsukka.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
The results of the data analysis are presented in this chapter. Out of the four hundred and forty-two (442) copies of the questionnaires administered to the respondents, four hundred and forty-one (441) were returned, properly filled in and fit for analysis. This gives a 99.77% return rate. The results of the data analyses were presented in Tables according to the stated objectives and hypotheses that guided the study.
Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
Descriptive statistics involving frequencies and their percentages were used to analyze data on demographic profiles of the respondents.
CHAPTER FIVE
Limitations of the Study
There is a great limitation of literatures for this work. Time constraints prevented this study from covering the nursing students in other basic nursing programmes in the southeast geopolitical zone.
Summary
This study was carried out to assess the nursing students’ perceptions of clinical training in selected nursing programmes in Enugu State. The objectives that guided the study were to:
- Determine the nursing students’ opinion of the placement into the clinical learning environment/setting.
- Ascertain the nursing students’ view about the clinical teaching (instruction).
- Identify the nursing students’ views about clinical supervisions.
- Assess the nursing students’ perceptions of clinical evaluation.
- Determine the students overall perception of clinical nursing training.
Conclusion
The nursing students involved in this study generally demonstrated positive perceptions of clinical training. A positive perception was shown on clinical placement, teaching and evaluation, while negative perception was shown on clinical supervision. University-based nursing students showed negative perception in all the subscales, while hospital-based student nurses showed positive perception in all the subscales. Also, the fact that there was no significant difference in perceptions of clinical training between the male and female student nurses indicated similarities in all the activities of clinical training.
The nursing students are the customers and consumers in the clinical nursing training. Their benefits from the training will depend on how they perceive the clinical training experiences. But since clinical nursing education is not meaningful without qualitative clinical placement, teaching, supervision and evaluation, it becomes essential for the schools of nursing, faculties, clinical setting and the policy makers to be highly committed to it and work together towards giving the students the required qualitative clinical nursing training.
Recommendation
In view of the findings and educational implications of the study it is therefore recommended that:-
- Nursing students should be actively involved from the planning stage of their placement and adequate accommodation made available for outstation posting.
- Access to leisure activities during the clinical posting should be allowed to permit the students to also develop socially during the clinical nursing training.
- Adequate and functional teaching and learning materials example blood pleasure apparatus, trolleys, nursing process charts etc. should be provided at the clinical setting.
- More qualified clinical instructors, supervisors and enough ward staff nurses who are experienced and are capable of integrating theoretical knowledge with practical procedure should be employed for clinical teaching, supervision and facilitation during clinical nursing training. This will also help to ease off the heavy workload of the nurses thereby providing enough attention to the student nurses.
- The clinical instructors and supervisors should do adequate planning of their supervision and duty roster made available so that they can always be available and accessible to the students.
- There should be equal attentions should be given to university-based and hospital-based nursing students during clinical placement, teaching, supervision and evaluation.
- Proper feedback on the students’ progress should be given to them individually and as groups after clinical evaluation to enable them work harder in areas they are having problems.
Suggestions for further studies
This present study and its findings opened up avenues for other areas that could be explored, for example;
- Further study is suggested to investigate the nursing students’ perceptions of clinical supervision.
- A comparative study on perceptions of clinical training between the university-based and hospital-based student nurses should be carried out.
- Similar study should be extended to other basic nursing programmes in the other states of the federation for better generalization.
- Since replication studies could provide empirical support for this study, it should be carried out as scientific empiricism demands that.
REFERENCES
- Adah, C. (2012). Clinical performance of nursing students. Retrieved from: http://www.ehow. com/about-6163234clinical-performance- nursing-student.htmp. December 8th, 2012.
- Adams, V. (2002). Consistent clinical assignment for nursing students compared to multiple placement. Journal of Nursing Education, 41(2), 80-82.
- Alam, S & Gary, J. (2011). Perception, Attribution and Judgment of others, organizational Behaviour: Understanding and managing life at work. Retrieved from: http://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/Perception. On February 12th, 2014.
- Advice Supplementary for Tomorrow’s Doctor (2009). Clinical placements for medical students. Tomorrow’s Doctors. Retrieved from: www.sinc.uk.org/clinical. On January 16th, 2014.
- Afzal, W., Akram, A., Akram, M.S. & Ijaz, A. (2010), Students’ perspective of quality in higher education. 3rd International conference. Assessing Quality in Higher Education, 417-418,422.
- Anthony, M & Yastik, J. (2011). Nursing students experiences with incivility in clinical education. The Journal of Nursing Education 50(3)-140-144.
- Australian Government Initiative. (2012). Promoting quality in clinical placement. Retrieved from:www.Hva.Gov/An/Sites/Uploads/Promotin g-Quality-In-Clinical-Placements-Report-20130408.Pdf. January 22nd 2014.
