Using preceptors to improve nursing students' clinical learning outcomes: A Malawian students' perspective

Objective: Clinical environment remains an important aspect in the development of student's compe-tence, confidence and fulfillment of their expected learning outcomes. Preceptors and clinical teachers play a significant role in preparing students to achieve their professional goals through continuous support and resource provision. This study explored the students' perception of using clinical preceptors to improve their clinical learning outcomes.Methods: The researchers used semi structured interviews to collect qualitative data. A total of 48 stu-dents were purposively and conveniently sampled from 8 hospitals to participate in the study. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings: Two themes emerged from the study findings namely: creating a positive clinical learning environment and facilitating academic clinical collaboration. Conclusions: The findings of the study revealed that students gained more confidence and competence in clinical practice when supported by preceptors as well as achieved clinical learning outcomes. These findings suggest the need to train more clinical preceptors for improvement of students' clinical learning outcomes.

Graduate students as preceptors: Effects on clinical teaching outcomes of medical nursing

Purpose:To explore the feasibility of using graduate students as preceptors in the clinical education of medical nursing students.Methods:Five second-year graduate nursing students were recruited to participate in the clinical teaching of medical nursing for 38 undergraduates in the first semester of the 2010 e2011 academic year,divided into two groups.The first group first received clinical teaching in caring for respiratory diseases from graduate preceptors for six weeks followed by clinical teaching in caring for circulatory diseases from nurse preceptors for six weeks.The second group received clinical teaching in the reverse order,from the nurse preceptors followed by the graduate student preceptors.Following training,all students were examined with a written test and scores were compared.In addition,review meetings were held to evaluate the teaching outcomes.Results:No significant differences in test scores were observed between the two teaching groups.Undergraduate student feedback indicated that the training provided by the graduate students was satisfactory,and the medical nursing course leader was satisfied with the teaching outcome with a few exceptions.Conclusion:These data indicate that graduate students are capable of training undergraduates in medical nursing,although some areas can be improved.

Registered Nurses’ Experiences with Clinical Teaching Environment in Malawi

Clinical practice remains an integral part of nursing curriculum because clinical practice provides students with an opportunity to achieve professional competence. Creating a conducive learning environment for students is responsibility of academic staff, clinical nurses and students alike. However, studies in Malawi have reported poor clinical learning environment for students. This study therefore aimed at exploring nurses’ experiences of clinical teaching environment in Malawi. The study used a qualitative research design utilizing a descriptive phenomenological approach. Participants were randomly identified from teaching hospitals across Malawi by nursing managers to attend a six week clinical preceptorship training at one University nursing college. Immediately before commencement of the training, participants were invited to voluntarily participate in a focus group discussion pertaining to their experiences with clinical environment. We conducted focus group discussions with 9 trainees in 2013 and 12 trainees in 2014 training cohorts. Findings reveal that nurses meet a number of challenges in teaching students in the clinical area. Four themes emerged from the study, namely, inadequate faculty support, poor clinical teaching environment, poor competence among nurses and unsupportive working conditions. Nurses require support from academic staff and their managers to ensure a conducive clinical teaching environment.

Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery:Educational challenge

Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery(NOTES) training is unique in that it crosses specialty lines and most practitioners do not possess both the knowledge and skill to perform the procedures in their current form.The learning process becomes even more complex because the field is in constant evolution with advances in technology and technique being introduced almost daily! The challenges of learning NOTES illustrates a larger problem in all procedurally based medical specialties today-the pace of change has become so rapid that a practicing physician's technical skills become out of date within five to ten years of completing residency or fellowship training.As a result,practicing physicians must develop a strategy to rapidly learn about a new technique or technology and introduce it safely into their practice while satisfying the concerns of their hospital's credentialing committee.This chapter will explore the options for learning new procedures and discuss the rapidly expanding armamentarium of education institutes and the developing technology to measure procedural competence.

Clinical Preceptor’s Role in the Development of Nursing Training Based on Professional and Competency Frameworks in Two Health Care Facilities of Bujumbura

Background: The aim of clinical preceptors is to support the development of expertise related to the preceptorship of groups of trainees among nurses in clinical settings by the acquisition and use of theoretical knowledge, know-how and know-that. The support of students remains a major problem in hospitals, because the requirements of the preceptors according to the standards are not considered. The lack of guidelines on nursing preceptorships, theoretical application based on the professional curriculum, and professional expertise were the main problems assessed in the two Health Care (HUCK, VNC) in this study. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge of nurses and learners during their preceptorship practices and to contribute to the direction of evidence-based preceptorship. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used in this study during the 3-month period. A sample of 121 nurses as well as 56 learners were selected from 381 nurses and 80 learners using Alain Bouchard’s formula. A questionnaire developed according to the guidelines of Ernestine Wiedenbach’s theory of care, was distributed. The data were analyzed using the Microsoft Excel and the software program version 16 (SPSS-16). Results: The current study found that the majority of nurses do not know the importance of the clinical tutor. The results state that students experience clinical practice problems, thus clinical preceptorship is required. Nurses showed that there are different barriers often encountered during their practices. The overall nurse preceptorship process is not optimal and the average of 97.6% of nurses does not have expertise in coaching interns in clinical settings. Conclusion: Although that nurses have some experience at work, they express their weakness based on a low level of education, a lack of knowledge and trained professionals on the job, and clinical preceptorship guidelines.

Evaluation of New Graduate Nursing Orientation Program

The study site is a holistic patient-centered organization that has developed a 16-week long orientation program for new graduate nurses entering the hospital setting. The purpose of the program is for new graduate nurses to gain the confidence, competence, and critical thinking skills for providing safe patient care. The issue occurring within the organization is that there is an increasing rise in the number of turnover rates of new graduates leaving the hospital, thus making evaluating the program a necessity to problem-solving. There has been no evaluation of the program in the past five years to reveal why the increase in the recent turnover rates. The data collected during the interview process was coded and categorized into three main sections: organizational, substantive, and theoretical. The evaluator used an organizational category to investigate for board areas or issues within the problem attempting to be solved. The evaluator concluded from the results and findings that the issue, a poor preceptor-preceptee relationship was seen by all stakeholders involved. The literature presented concludes that continuous evaluation of orientation programs is crucial for the professional and personal growth of new graduate nurses in the hospital.