Student nurses' experiences of the clinical field in the Limpopo Province as learning field: a phenomenological study

Abstract

The research question the researcher set out to answer was: How do student nurses experience learning in the clinical field? The research question stemmed from years of experience in nursing education and a concern about student nurses' involvement in the clinical area.

A phenomenological investigation was embarked upon involving principles from Wertz's (1983, 1984, 1985) empirical psychological reflection. The existential base-line for the research was stated as: Human experience results in learning. The base-line also supported the assumptions underlying the current research and are in line with phenomenological philosophy.

Participants were selected from the student nurse population in the Limpopo Province via convenience and purposive sampling. Five students from second through fourth year of training according to SANC Regulation R425 were selected.

Data were collected through in-depth interviews. One initial and one follow-up interview were conducted with each participant. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim.

Data analysis at the idiographic and nomothetic levels was conducted through open coding, categorisation and constant comparative analysis.

Four major themes emerged from the data namely:

* Descriptive overview of clinical learning * The lived experience of student nurses * Motivational factors in clinical learning * Erosive factors in clinical learning

Awareness figured as an all accommodating concept to theme and categories. It figured as a multi-dimensional concept that positions and orientates student nurses in the clinical setting. Awareness answers the student nurse's existential question: Where am I?

Based on the findings OF the current research and guided by the concept of an integrated holistic awareness, conclusions were drawn and recommendations and guidelines were formulated relating to: nursing education, nursing management, cooperation between education and services, clinical teaching, future research and theory development.