Preparing for practice: Nursing intern and faculty perceptions on clinical experiences

Abstract

Purpose: Clinical experience and exposure to real patients are required elements of nursing education. Trainees in nursing are expected to be prepared adequately for the hard-working environment, increasing patient complexity, and higher-level competencies. This study investigates differences between nursing interns and clinical faculty on actual and perceived importance of educational preparation and development of clinical competencies, focusing on the nursing curriculum and transition to practice.

Methods: A convenient sampling technique with a mixed-methods design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data, by surveying and interviewing nursing interns and faculty members from King Abdul-Aziz University in Saudi Arabia; data collection occurred in December 2015. The survey (23 items) and focused interviews measured perceptions of clinical instruction and experience. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to analyze differences in mean ratings between actual and perceived importance. Themes collected from narrative interview data were summarized.

Results: Significant differences were found between nursing interns (n = 46) and faculty (n = 29) perceptions of actual clinical teaching and experiences and its importance including the clinical teaching and the development of clinical competence, p < .01. Moreover, nursing interns rated actual experiences of knowledge base and skills significantly lower than faculty perceptions, p = .001. Narrative data provided in-depth information on factors contributing and hindering the learning and teaching environment.

Conclusions: Findings from this study call for clinical instruction and experiences to take a step further to meet current practice standards and to improve patient safety in the health professions education of nurses.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

The publication of this supplement has been made possible with the generous financial support of the Dr Hamza Alkholi Chair for Developing Medical Education in KSA.

Notes on contributors

Hanan AlThiga, BSN, RN, is a Registered Nurse and a master student in medical education at University of Illinois, College of Medicine at Chicago (UIC).

Sharifah Mohidin, MS, is an Acting Manager Nursing Clinical Practice & Research Unit at KAUH.

Yoon Soo Park, Ph.D., in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics from Columbia University. He is assistant professor, Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.

Ara Tekian, PhD, MHPE, Professor & Director of International Programs, Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago.