Factors affecting student nurses' selection of psychiatric hospitals for community placement: KwaZulu Natal college of nursing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors impacting on student nurses’ selection of psychiatric hospitals for community service placement. The study was conducted at the campuses under KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing (KZNCN). A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive research design was selected to describe, explain, and determine factors impacting on student nurses’ selection of psychiatric hospitals for community service placement experiences. The researcher purposively selected a sample of student nurses qualifying for Community Service at the KZNCN Campuses. Data was collected from 125 respondents by means of a Likert scale-based self-administered structured questionnaire. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 data processing and statistical analysis. The study identified the following factors: danger allowance, fear of psychiatric patients, insufficient exposure during training and poor infrastructure in the psychiatric hospitals as impacting on the student selection of psychiatric hospitals for community service placement.