Effective Planning and Implementation of Hospital and Community Based Clinical Experience for Nursing and Midwifery Students

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VI, June 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Effective Planning and Implementation of Hospital and Community Based Clinical Experience for Nursing and Midwifery Students

Akin-Otiko, Bridget Omowumi¹; Adumaza, Folakemi Beatrice²; Ajibade Omowumi Suuru³; Gbore, Lucia Olu⁴

^1,2 Department of Maternal, Neonatal & Child Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Science, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo-City, Ondo State, Nigeria
^3,4 Department of Adult Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Science, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo-City, Ondo State, Nigeria
¹Corresponding Author

Abstract:- Nursing and midwifery are practice-based professions; hence, the critical role of hospital and community based clinical experiences in the education of practitioners. Professional experience placements must be effectively planned and implemented to support students in developing desired cognitive, attitudinal and technical outcomes. This paper was prepared to provide guidelines for faculty and clinical personnel involved in training of nurses and midwives in the clinical and community settings

Keywords: Clinical Experience; Preceptors; Clinical instructors; Community; Nursing; Midwifery

I. INTRODUCTION

Nursing and midwifery are practice-based professions; hence, the critical role of hospital and community based clinical experiences in the education of practitioners (Atakro & Gross, 2016; James Cook University, 2017). All core nursing and midwifery courses require clinical experience, making it mandatory for students to be exposed to a variety of professional experiences during their training. Each of the experiences has a planning, orientation and implementation phase (Royal College of Nursing, 2002). Effectively planned and implemented clinical experience is expected to afford the students the opportunity to develop the confidence and competence (Phuma-Ngaiyaye, Bvumbwe, & Chipeta, 2017) required for quality nursing and midwifery practice, and to provide a solid foundation for continuing professional development in future.
Literature is however, replete with challenges and positive outcomes of students’ clinical experiences. This presentation is expected to help us to identify and promote strategies that produce positive clinical experience outcomes. Before planning, it is pertinent to look at identified factors militating against effective clinical experiences by nursing and midwifery students (Table 1) and consider the enhancers of students’ clinical experiences (Table 2). It is important to also examine the expected roles of the stakeholders in students’ clinical experiences. Generally, students see clinical experiences as a challenging (Brunstad, Giske, & Hjälmhult, 2016), but critical part of their professional training. Approaches to organizing students’ hospital and community based experiences differ from one institution to the other even in the same country where precepting or mentoring has been adopted in place of the traditional clinical-instructor-solely approach. Similarly, the challenges and enhancers vary (Uchechukwu, 2014).

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