ABSTRACT
The real and preferred hospital clinical learning environment (CLE) of student nurses in Enugu state was explored in this study. The purpose of this study was to assess student nurses’ perceptions of their actual and preferred hospital CLE, determine if there are differences between their actual and preferred hospital CLE, establish a link between the actual and preferred hospital CLE and students’ age, gender, location, and year of study, and identify factors that influence student nurses’ perceptions of their hospital CLE. The study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey approach, which allows for the observation, description, and documentation of characteristics of a scenario as it occurs naturally. The study’s sample size of 454 nursing students was chosen with care. The researcher created a questionnaire and customized 42 item standardized clinical learning environment inventory (CLEI) (Actual and Preferred) questionnaires to collect data. For research objectives, frequency counts, simple percentages, means, and standard deviation were used, while the eight null hypotheses were tested using a t-test with a cutoff point of 2.50 MANOVA, and ANOVA at the.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that student nurses’ perceptions of their actual and chosen hospital CLE differ significantly.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Clinical education is an important aspect of the nursing curriculum because nursing is a practice-based profession. Students’ learning is centered on clinical experience, and clinical placement/posting is one of the most important aspects of nursing education. Clinical placement is the setting in which theoretically learned skills, information, and attitudes are applied, developed, and incorporated into practice (Newton, Jolly, Ockerby & Cross, 2010).
Clinical practice settings, according to Norman (2009), present students with unique learning opportunities by putting classroom theory and skills to the test in real-life scenarios. Aside from clinical instruction that encourages students to apply their knowledge, skills, and attitudes to clinical circumstances, it is critical that valuable clinical time be allocated. In order for theory and practice to complement each other, Zilembo and Montereso (2008) emphasized the importance of practicing in an appropriate clinical learning environment at the appropriate moment. The clinical setting was regarded by nursing students as the most influential venue for developing information and nursing skills (Al-Kandari, Vidal & Thomas 2009).
The relevance of clinical learning has been emphasized in the United Kingdom and other countries of the world, including Nigeria. Providing high-quality clinical training with a focus on improvement and development is critical to ensure that students receive high-quality patient and client service (E.N.B & D.O.H 2001).
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