Clinical experience in nursing is an important aspect of nursing education as it allows students nurses to acquire skills and knowledge necessary to provide safe patient care through a supportive clinical learning environment (Flott & Linden, 2015; Lawal, et al 2016). Nursing education in practice environments requires the collaboration of nurse educators, practicing nurses, and nursing administrators to ensure excellence in nursing (Flott & Linden, 2015; D’Souza, et al 2015). Regulatory partners and policy makers are also critical in providing solutions to the challenges facing nursing training in Sub-Saharan Africa (Bvumbwe & Mtshali, 2018). The experiences of part-time BScN students in clinical learning environments have not been widely studied, with most local data focusing on regular full-time BScN students (Appiagyei, et al 2014; Nyangena, Mutema & Karani, 2011). The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the support needs of part-time BScN students in Kenya with a view to develop guidelines for enhanced student support strategies. These findings are part of the larger PhD study, but this presentation focuses on clinical experiences of part-time BScN students in Kenyan universities.
Methods:
Using an exploratory qualitative approach, ten focus group discussions were conducted with 112 part-time BScN students, purposively sampled from two public and two private universities in Kenya in 2019. Ethical approval was provided by the four universities. Data was analyzed using content thematic analysis
Results:
The research data revealed three themes and seven sub-themes: 1) Curriculum challenges (redundant learning outcomes, redundant clinical assessments, not acknowledging prior learning); 2) Practice environment (lack of clinical supervision, lack of learning resources, “extra pair of hands”) and 3) Financial implication (no value for money), respecting clinical experiences of part-time BScN students in Kenyan universities. Clinical learning settings failed to provide clinical supervision to part-time BScN students. They also lacked mentors, preceptors, and basic resources for students learning. This is despite the amount of money that part-time BScN students had paid for the clinical learning. Registered nurses in clinical settings considered part-time BScN students as human resource and an “extra pair of hands” to cover nursing staff shortage. Clinical learning outcomes and clinical assessments were similar to those covered in their diploma training. The program failed to acknowledge that part-time BScN students were already registered and practicing nurses as clinical learning outcomes were similar to those of regular students. Consequently, part-time BScN students avoided going to clinical settings and only went to the clinical placement to prepare for clinical assessments.
Conclusion:
These findings highlight the need for collaborative partnerships among the universities, clinical learning environments, nurse educators, nursing council of Kenya and policy makers, in order to review the expectations and design of clinical learning outcomes for part-time BScN, with a view to make them relevant for this group of students.
These study findings provide an important evidence base for transforming clinical teaching through involving relevant partners from practice, nursing regulators and policy makers to ensure students achieve their competencies and to also ensure excellence in nursing.