Clinical posting is a vital component and fundamental to nursing students learning which provides them direct, real experience of nursing profession as they participate in routine nursing activities of the ward. Nursing students perceived their clinical learning environment as stressful and anxiety aggravating. The aim of the study was to assess and compare the perception about clinical posting among 1st year B.Sc. nursing and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing in selected College of nursing, Haryana.
Method: A descriptive research design was carried out among 40 B.Sc. Nursing students by using convenient sampling technique. The tool used was students’ self-perception rating scale (Likert 5 point perception scale) which includes 30 questions regarding the perception about clinical posting.
Result: More than half (60%) of students from 1st year B.Sc. nursing had positive perception regarding clinical posting and as the year of study progresses, 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students’ perception were changed as more than half (70%) of students from 3rd year B.Sc. nursing had also positive perception regarding clinical posting. There is much less difference (10%) in their level of perception between 1st year B.Sc. nursing students and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing student regarding their clinical posting. Nursing students were satisfied with their clinical posting and also have positive perception about clinical posting.
Conclusion: The increasing number of clinical posting, students mind mend towards their clinical learning environment. A student perceives their clinical posting positively as they progress from one year to other year.
Clinical posting; Perception; 1st year nursing students; 3rd year nursing students.
Nursing students come into nursing education with inherent lay beliefs of nursing that evolve over year of education, enabling them to be professionally socialized into the nursing career [1]. Clinical posting is a vital component of nursing education. Clinical experiences are necessary to help nursing students apply theoretical concepts and skills to professional practice [2]. A large part of nursing education is carried out in clinical environments. In Iran and many other countries, clinical education forms more than half of the formal educational courses in nursing. [3]. Therefore, clinical education is considered to be an essential and integral part of the nursing education program [4]. Since nursing is a performance-based profession, clinical learning environments play an important role in the acquisition of professional abilities and train the nursing students to enter the nursing profession and become a registered nurse [5]. Clinical practice provides the opportunity for students to strengthen their clinical skills, how to perform physical and psychosocial assessment, administer medication, perform other needed skills, develop critical thinking skills and develop plan of nursing care. Students are responsible to integrate theory into practice and to gain real nursing experiences while being facilitated by their clinical supervisors [6]. Clinical work in nursing education is an important component of the nursing curriculum aimed at actively engaging nursing students with the necessary skills needed for the nursing profession [7]. Clinical experience is one of the most anxiety producing components of the nursing program which has been identified by nursing students. In a descriptive correlation study by Beck and Srivastava , 94 second, third and fourth year nursing students reported that clinical experience was the most stressful part of the nursing [8]. Students’ inadequate preparation for entering the clinical environment creates problems for them and nursing teachers [9]. Even though they learn the fundamentals of nursing in classrooms and practice rooms, nursing students do not have sufficient time to practice and repeat these skills to completely enter the clinic. Killam and Heerschap found that the students’ insufficient practice and lack of skill before entering the clinical environment created problems for them with respect to learning in the clinic [10]. Moreover, the students’ lack of skill in confronting the clinical environment and dealing with actual patients is evident. Students’ lack of knowledge and skill and inadequate preparation for entering the clinical environment disturb their learning processes and make them anxious [11]. Clinical learning is a main part of nursing education. Students’ exposure to clinical learning environment is one of the most important factors affecting the teaching-learning process in clinical settings. Identifying challenges of nursing students in the clinical learning environment could improve training and enhance the quality of its planning and promotion of the students Research [12]. Moreover, problems and difficulties experienced by nursing students in the clinical setting may lead to their failure to learn and rejection of the nursing profession. Researcher also experienced the same kind of problems in 1st posting. This study would help the faculty and the administrators to elicit the hindrances which the students are facing in the clinical area will in turn help to provide better learning opportunities for the students in clinical area.
Descriptive research with quantitative approach was conducted in 40 B.Sc. nursing students in a selected college of nursing, Haryana after obtaining formal permission from the Principal of selected College of nursing, Haryana. Convenient sampling technique was used for selecting the sample of 20 1st year B.sc nursing students and 20 3rd year B.sc nursing students. Nursing students who studied in selected college of Nursing, Haryana and nursing students who were present during the period of data collection were included in the study. Those nursing students who were not willing to participate in the study, nursing students who are sick at the time of data collection and nursing students who are on leave at the time of data collection were excluded. The students self -perception scale tool i.e. Likert 5 point perception scale were developed from the reviewed literature with 30 items which were based on rating scale. In this, the answers were divided into 5 categories i.e. “Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree”. In case of positive statement, highest score (5) was awarded to the strongly agreed statements and reverse scoring was given to negative statements. Informed written consent was obtained from each participant. Face to face interview was conducted by maintaining privacy and confidentiality of each participant throughout the study.
The collected data were checked for completeness, organized, tabulated and entered in Microsoft EXCEL and analyzed by using descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics (Frequency and percentage distribution) of the subjects were calculated to find the demographic status, to find the level of perception and area wise comparisons of the nursing student’s perception regarding clinical posting
S.No. |
Characteristics |
Category |
1st year B.Sc. Nursing Students |
3rd year B.Sc. Nursing Students |
||
Frequency |
Percentage |
Frequency |
Percentage |
|||
1 |
Age |
< 18 yrs |
04 |
20% |
00 |
00% |
18-20 yrs |
16 |
80% |
06 |
30% |
||
>20yrs |
00 |
00% |
14 |
70% |
||
2 |
Gender |
Male |
05 |
25% |
05 |
25% |
Female |
15 |
75% |
15 |
75% |
||
3 |
Locality |
Urban |
15 |
75% |
15 |
75% |
Rural |
05 |
25% |
05 |
25% |
||
4 |
Mother’s occupation |
Housewife/House maker |
16 |
80 % |
15 |
75% |
Govt. job |
02 |
10% |
03 |
15% |
||
Private job |
02 |
10% |
02 |
10% |
||
5 |
Father’s occupation |
Govt. job |
06 |
30% |
11 |
55% |
Private job |
08 |
40% |
08 |
40% |
||
Unemployed |
06 |
30% |
01 |
05% |
||
6 |
Reason for enrollment in nursing |
Inspired by someone |
02 |
10% |
04 |
20% |
Joined by choice |
14 |
70% |
11 |
55% |
||
Joined by parental pressure |
03 |
15% |
05 |
25% |
||
Joined by casual approach |
|
05% |
00 |
00% |
||
7 |
Any relative/ friend in nurs. Profession |
Yes |
03 |
15% |
10 |
50% |
No |
17 |
85% |
10 |
50% |
||
8 |
Family’s perception towards nursing profession |
Positive |
18 |
90% |
18 |
90% |
Negative |
00 |
00% |
00 |
00% |
||
Neutral |
02 |
10% |
02 |
10% |
Table 1: Socio demographic characteristics of the B.Sc. Nursing students
n= Total 40 nursing students (20 students from 1st year B.Sc. nursing &20 students from 3rd year B.Sc. nursing)
(Table 1) depicts that according to age group, majority of 1st year B.Sc. nursing students (80%) were in the age group of 18-20 years whereas more than half of 3rd year B.Sc. nursing students (70%)were in the age group of more than 20 years. Regarding gender and residence, majority of both 1st year and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing students (75%) were females. and also from urban area. According to mother’s occupation, majority of both 1st year B.Sc. nursing student’s mothers (80%) and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing student’s mothers (75%) were housewives/house makers. According to father’s occupation, less than half (40%) of 1st year B.Sc. nursing student’s fathers were in private job whereas 50% of 3rd year B.Sc. nursing student’s fathers were doing Govt. job. More than half of both 1st year B.Sc. nursing students (70%) and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing students (55%) were joined by their own choice. Majorities (85%) of 1st year B.Sc. nursing students (85%) have no relatives/ friends in nursing profession whereas 50% of 3rd year B.Sc. nursing students have relatives/ friends in nursing profession and 50% of them do not have any relatives in this profession. Majority (90%) of both 1st year and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing student’s families were having positive perception towards nursing profession and only 10% of both 1st year and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing student’s families were having neutral perception towards nursing profession.
S. No |
PERCEPTION |
% OF SCORE |
1st Year B.Sc. Nursing Students |
3rd Year B.Sc. Nursing Students |
||
Frequency |
Percentage |
Frequency |
Percentage |
|||
1 |
Highly positive perception |
67-100 |
08 |
40% |
06 |
30% |
2 |
Positive perception |
34-66 |
12 |
60% |
14 |
70% |
3 |
TOTAL |
100% |
20 |
100% |
20 |
100% |
Table 2: Level of Perception
n= Total 40 nursing students (20 students from 1st year B.Sc. nursing &20 students from 3rd year B.Sc. nursing)
(Table 2) depicts that more than half (60%) of students from 1st year B.Sc. Nursing and 70% of student from 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing have positive perception regarding clinical posting. Less than half (40%) of students from 1st year B.Sc. Nursing and 30% of student from 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing have highly positive perception regarding clinical posting.
S. No |
AREAS |
No. Of Items |
STRONGLY AGREE |
AGREE |
NEUTRAL |
DISAGREE |
STRONGLY DISAGREE |
|||||||||||||||
B.Sc. (n) 1st yr. student |
B.Sc. (n) 3rd yr. student |
B.Sc. (n) 1st yr. student |
B.Sc. (n) 3rd yr. student |
B.Sc. (n) 1st yr. student |
B.Sc. (n) 3rd yr. student |
B.Sc. (n) 1st yr. students |
B.Sc. (n) 3rd yr. students |
B.Sc. (n) 1st yr. students |
B.Sc. (n) 3rd yr. students |
|||||||||||||
F |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
F |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
|||
1 |
Learning opportunities |
06 |
32 |
26.6 |
32 |
26.6 |
44 |
36.6 |
49 |
40.8 |
31 |
25.8 |
27 |
22.5 |
12 |
10 |
10 |
8.3 |
1 |
0.8 |
2 |
1.6 |
2 |
Clinical supervisors |
06 |
26 |
21.6 |
25 |
20.8 |
46 |
38.3 |
31 |
25.8 |
32 |
26.6 |
47 |
39.1 |
10 |
8.3 |
15 |
12.5 |
6 |
5 |
2 |
1.6 |
3 |
Interpersonal relationship |
06 |
41 |
34.1 |
50 |
41.6 |
47 |
39.1 |
49 |
40.8 |
29 |
24.1 |
15 |
12.5 |
03 |
2.5 |
03 |
2.5 |
0 |
00 |
3 |
2.5 |
4 |
Personal safety |
06 |
14 |
11.6 |
24 |
20 |
40 |
33.3 |
34 |
28.3 |
29 |
24.1 |
39 |
32.5 |
28 |
23.3 |
16 |
13.3 |
9 |
7.5 |
7 |
5.8 |
5 |
Professional role |
06 |
39 |
32.5 |
44 |
36.6 |
38 |
31.6 |
37 |
30.8 |
25 |
20.8 |
23 |
19.1 |
12 |
10 |
08 |
6.6 |
6 |
5 |
8 |
6.6 |
(Table 3) depicts areas wise comparison of 1st year B.Sc. nursing student’s and 3rd year B.Sc. nursing student’s perception regarding clinical posting shows that around 26.6% of both 1st year B.Sc. Nursing and 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly agreed that clinical posting provide learning opportunities whereas 0.8% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 1.6% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly disagreed with the same. Around 21.6% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 20.8% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly agreed that clinical supervisors have a positive effect during clinical posting whereas 5% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 1.6% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly disagreed with the same. Around 34.1% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 41.6% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly agreed that clinical posting helps in making good interpersonal relationship with patients and other health team members whereas only 2.5% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly disagreed with the same. Around 11.6% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 20% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly agreed that personal safety is given priority during clinical posting whereas 7.5% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 5.8% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly disagreed with the same. Around 32.5% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 36.6% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly agreed that clinical posting provides positive image about professional role whereas 5% of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 6.6% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly disagreed with the same.
This study has examined that More than half (60%) of 1st year B.Sc. nursing students has positive perception regarding clinical posting and the same way 70% of 3rd year B.Sc. nursing students have positive perception regarding clinical posting. This finding is consistent with that of [13] who reported that the majority of nursing students perceived their CLE positively, and having satisfaction in their clinical learning experience. Furthermore, other studies by [14] and [15] have summarized the nursing students need for a healthy learning environment, which fosters their confidence, progress in clinical skills and abilities in critical thinking and decision making. The current results generally showed that less than half (36.6%) of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and40.8 % of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students agreed that clinical posting provide learning opportunities. This study is congruent with [16] an effective clinical learning environment will encourage students to take responsibility for learning. whereas According to [17] students reported that their learning opportunities were compromised due to increased workload
The current results generally showed that Less than half (38.3%) of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 25.8% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students agreed that clinical supervisors have a positive effect during clinical posting. this finding is consistent with [18] which showed that 32.3% of nursing students agree that effective clinical supervision improved clinical practice during clinical posting and they are satisfied with regularsupervisory discussions and mentorship. The current results generally showed that less than half (39.1%) of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 40.8% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students agreed that clinical posting helps in making good interpersonal relationship with patients and other health team members. this finding is consistent with [19] which showed that 20.5% reported good interpersonal relationship and cooperation among students boosted self-confidence and can be made more meaningful in supporting learning in clinical education. whereas The results of the studies conducted by [20] demonstrate that due to conflicts and improper treatment by the nursing staff with students negatively affect the clinical teaching trend.
The current results generally showed that less than half (33.3%) of 1st year B.Sc.. Nursing students and 28.3% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students agreed that personal safety is given priority during clinical posting. The current results generally showed that less than half (32.5%) of 1st year B.Sc. Nursing students and 36.6% of 3rd year B.Sc. Nursing students strongly agreed that clinical posting provides positive image about professional role. this finding is supported by [21] which showed that (64.8%) of the nursing students strongly agreed that nursing is a noble profession. Most of the respondents agreed that there is good job security, good pay and self-actualization in nursing. The general perception upon these indices, by the undergraduate nursing students, is consistent with [22].
Clinical posting is a vital component of nursing education. It also provides students a chance to involve actively or directly in patients’ care. An effective clinical practice should focus on the students’ needs, abilities, interests and learning styles to provide adequate exposure and achieve learning objectives in the clinical settings. It is well known that, within the clinical practices, students have their 1st contact with their future profession and have a small training on it which fosters them to understand the nursing practice.
The authors are grateful to the Amity College of nursing, Gurgaon, Haryana for their support and contribution. Special thanks to all the student nurses who took part in the study.
Citation: Jyoti G, Shama B (2021) Perception about Clinical Posting among B.Sc. Nursing Students: A Comparative study. J Pract Prof Nurs 4: 023.
Copyright: © 2021 Jyoti G, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.