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Monday, 31 October 2011: 3:15 PM
Learning Objective 1: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of 12-hour clinical rotations for BSN student learning.
Learning Objective 2: Discuss the nurses and students perceptions of 12-hour clinical rotations related to continuity of care, enhanced learning, and correlation of theory to practice.
With today’s increase in student enrollment in baccalaureate nursing education, it is more challenging to secure quality clinical placements with optimal learning experiences. Some clinical agencies can only offer 12-hour clinical shift rotations for students. Few studies have been conducted on the use of 12-hour clinical shift rotations with nursing students, with little evidence supporting this clinical scheduling strategy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the students’ and registered nursing staff’s perceptions of whether the 12-hour clinical shift rotation for nursing students enhances their clinical learning ability, allows for better continuity of care for their assigned patients and families, and facilitates their ability to correlate theory to nursing practice. This nursing program placed junior level students in 12-hour clinical shifts. A mixed-method design was used to conduct the study. The nursing students (N = 28) and staff nurses (N = 8) who participated in the 12-hour clinical rotations were asked to complete a Likert-scale questionnaire, as well as open-ended questions. Focus groups were conducted with the nursing students (N = 3 groups). The student questionnaire included items such as, continuity of care, collaboration, ability to correlate theory to practice, and enhanced learning; the mean scores ranged from 4.04 to 4.86 (1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree). The staff nurse questionnaire included similar items; the mean scores were 4.63 to 5. Themes identified from the focus groups and open-ended questions from the nursing students were continuity of care, enhanced learning, communication, and collaboration. Themes that emerged from the open-ended questions for the nurses were continuity of care and enhanced time for teaching. Overall, the response from nursing students and nurses was positive regarding 12-hour clinical shift rotations for students, and provides evidence that can support 12-hour clinical rotations as a strategy for clinical education.
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