The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of student nurses attending clinical placement at a primary healthcare setting in regional New South Wales, Australia. Primary healthcare is an essential mode of service across national and international healthcare systems . Due to aging populations and a changing healthcare demographic which includes increasing prevalence of chronic disease and increasing pressures associated with health technology, there is a need to ensure healthcare service delivery is effectively integrated (World Health Organization, 2000). For this reason, it is essential to prepare the student nurse for a healthcare system with changing workforce priorities that are less focused upon acute service delivery as the primary method of healthcare (Chowthi-Williams, Harris, & Curzio, 2010; Keleher, Parker, & Francis, 2010; McKenna, Parry, Kirby, Gilbert, & Griffiths, 2014). By understanding the experiences of student nurses attending clinical placement in the primary healthcare setting, educators and stakeholders will be better informed to put into place strategies to support the student nurse both during clinical placement and during the provision of theoretical content.
Methods:
This study utilized an exploratory qualitative research design through the process of naturalistic enquiry (Lincoln, & Guba, 1985a). Purposive sampling was used to recruit current student nurses, across two separate degrees of study, who attended a clinical placement at a primary healthcare clinic. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the interview transcripts analyzed thematically informed by the work of Braun and Clarke (2006, 2014). Rigor was ensured by the processes of; credibility through the use of established research methods, participants encouraged to be forthright, transcriptions made available to the participant for review to ensure the authenticity of the data; and confirmability through documentation of researcher bias, recognition of the limitations and shortcomings of the research, participant quotation to provide a context to the findings, and investigator triangulation to ensure rigor of themes (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993; Lincoln, & Guba, 1985b).
Results:
The study identified two main themes within the findings.
Theme 1 - Attitudes and perspectives towards PHC. This theme identified that student nurses have a poor attitude towards primary healthcare, and discusses how the student nurse does not regard primary healthcare as proper nursing, or hat it requires basic or no skills. These attitudes were informed by a number of elements including popular media, cultural attitudes and even attitudes of qualified nurse.
Theme 2 - Experience with PHC while on clinical placement. This themes identified that student nurses have a poor understanding of what primary healthcare practices involve, and discussed how the student was unsure of the skills that would be practiced, and unable to contextualize how learning which may have been geared toward acute care settings was transferrable to the primary healthcare setting.
Conclusion:
To support the student nurse in their learning within primary healthcare it is essential to first understand the student perceptions and the experiences they have while on clinical placement within the setting. This allows clinical and academic educators to provide structured learning which better enables the student nurse to practice within a diverse range of settings.
See more of: Research Sessions: Oral Paper & Posters