Clinical accompaniment in a rural hospital : student and professional nurses experience

Abstract

This study investigated the clinical accompaniment of nursing students in a rural hospital. Nursing students are allocated to clinical facilities for clinical exposure and learning opportunities; to integrate theoretical knowledge with practical skills and professional socialization under guidance and support from professional practitioners. Although the rural hospital, as context for this study, provides unique and challenging learning opportunities for clinical teaching and learning, the environment as such and the relationship between the stakeholders (nursing students and professional nurses) seem to be questionable and not conducive for learning. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design served as framework for this study. Data was collected by means of semi–structured focus–group interviews with samples selected from two (2) populations of stakeholders with first hand experience of the clinical accompaniment of nursing students allocated to the rural hospital for clinical exposure and learning. The first sample consisted of thirteen (n=13) nursing students and the second sample consisted of professional nurses (n=6) directly involved in the clinical accompaniment of the nursing students. The focus of the interviews was the participants' experience of the clinical accompaniment in a specific rural hospital. Data was analyzed by means of the process of content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). Three (3) themes and eight (8) subthemes emerged from the data collected from the nursing students. The data collected from the professional nurses resulted in five (5) themes and eleven (11) subthemes. The collected data was integrated with relevant national and international literature to culminate in eight (8) conclusive statements. The conclusive statements served as basis for the proposal of guidelines to improve the clinical accompaniment of nursing students in a rural hospital and to enhance learning in the clinical practice area.