What do student nurses think about their practice placement experiences?

Published: 26 March 2013

Interim findings from a qualitative research study - Anne Corrin

Mentors often feel they are unable to provide an appropriate level of support to their students, and, similarly, students frequently report a lack of quality time with their mentors. These feelings are ubiquitous, and, as such, I felt warranted further investigation, hence the reason I decided to focus on this topic for my professional doctorate. The following discussion outlines the findings of the research project, so far, and I would welcome any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas on these interim findings.

The importance of the practice learning environment in good quality nurse education has long been acknowledged by the professional and regulatory bodies and, more recently, by the Willis Commission (2012). In particular, the NMC Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice: NMC Standards for Mentors, Practice Teachers and Teachers (2008) addressed concerns about the quality of the practice learning environment, and this did lead to a rise in the profile of mentorship and the processes supporting mentorship, which are now as rigorous as they have ever been. This has been mirrored at a local level, for example, in Essex and Cambridgeshire, the creation of a practice education facilitator role and a mentorship steering group, comprising representatives from PEPs, HEIs and the LETB, have also raised the profile of mentorship. Yet despite all these measures, some mentors still feel anxious about their inability to support students adequately, while some students are becoming increasingly disaffected with their placements. These issues were also identified by the Willis Commission (2012), which stressed the importance of the practice learning environment in nurse education and the fact that there was the lack of consistency in the quality of practice learning environments.

It would be easy to blame the issues and challenges experienced by mentors and students on time constraints, often linked to staff shortages and increased work loads, (as is often cited on mentor placement evaluation forms and in mentor update sessions), but it appears to be more complex than that. Indeed, some short-staffed and overworked areas offer fantastic learning opportunities for some students.

As this issue seemed more complicated than it first appeared, I decided that it would be useful to explore students’ placement experiences in greater detail. Although the final analysis has not yet been completed, it would appear that several themes are emerging.

Emerging themes

1. students’ emotional resilience to the sometimes chaotic world of practice
2. students’ ability to negotiate their own learning in a sensitive manner
3. students’ willingness to take responsibility for their own learning
4. students’ confidence and interpersonal skills, particularly when dealing with “difficult” mentors
5. students’ ability to understand and explain practice documentation and learning outcomes for a specific placement.

It would appear that student expectations and attitudes, personal characteristics and behaviour, are all fundamentally important in ensuring a positive learning experience. Although it is generally assumed that the mentor must take responsibility for leading the learning experience (NMC 2008), it is a two-way process and, as such, we need to prepare students for placements by enhancing their skills in the following areas:

emotional resilience
interpersonal skills / communication
personal agency.

They also require knowledge of their curriculum, learning outcomes, assessment strategies, and an understanding of the importance of identifying specific placement learning opportunities, prior to starting a placement.

The responsibility for shaping the placement experience does not lie solely with the mentor. Students, therefore, need to be appropriately prepared for placements, as outlined above, if they are to maximise the available learning opportunities.

Finally, I look forward to hearing from anyone who also has an interest in this area and who would be willing to share their ideas.

Anne Corrin
Senior Lecturer
Programme Lead MSc Adult Nursing
Programme Lead Mentorship Preparation
University of Essex
School of Health and Human Sciences

acorrin@essex.ac.uk
01206 874139