A student support plan for clinical placement of nursing students in Rwanda

Abstract

The quality of support that students receive during clinical placement depends on planning of clinical placement that integrates students’ needs with available support services, materials, and resources. A qualitative study was conducted with the purpose of proposing a student support plan for clinical placement of students to enhance clinical learning according to the affective, cognitive, and systemic dimensions of student support. Data was collected by means of five focus group interviews with nursing students registered for the bachelor’s (undergraduate) degree programme leading to registration as a nurse, at a selected university in Rwanda. The two major themes that emerged were, firstly, support needed from nursing students’ clinical learning experiences and, secondly, suggestions to enhance clinical learning during clinical placement. From the students’ feedback, it was evident that nursing education institutions need to collaborate with the healthcare institution to address students’ support needs, which could enhance clinical learning. As an outcome of the study, a student support plan for clinical placement of students was drawn up, which can be used as a guide when planning for students’ clinical placement, and which could support students in practice. Further research is recommended to explore student support needs according to level of study in the bachelor’s nursing degree programme, which could provide insights that can be used by future researchers to devise a framework for a student support plan for clinical placement of nursing students.