Clinical facilitators facilitate the clinical training of students in the hospitals at which students are placed for the practical component of their studies. Clinical facilitators’ success depends on their ability to facilitate students effectively. Students who have been effectively facilitated have the potential to become competent bedside nurses to their patients. This is sure to lead to better patient outcomes and will therefore have a direct impact on the quality of nursing care. The clinical facilitators who are appointed to facilitate students in the clinical learning environment are, however, not necessarily empowered and skilled to teach their students effectively. If their own mentoring needs are addressed, clinical facilitators may be assisted to become more effective in their transition from clinician to clinical facilitator. A qualitative study was conducted with the purpose to explore and describe the mentoring needs of clinical facilitators with a view to proposing a mentoring programme for effective clinical facilitation. Data were collected by means of focus groups with clinical facilitators working in a private hospital group. The findings of this study confirmed the need for mentoring. Mentoring of clinical facilitators contributes to their skills and understanding of clinical facilitation. As an outcome of the study, an outline of a mentoring programme was drawn up which could be used in the orientation and mentoring of novice clinical facilitators. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

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. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Thesis (MCur (Nursing Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Clinical teaching and training is undertaken to correlate theory and practice (Mellish et al., 1998:211). Clinical teaching is the means by which student nurses learn to apply the theory of nursing in a clinical situation so that an integration of theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the clinical situation becomes the art and science of nursing. (Mellish et al., 1998:207). The role of the lecturer/facilitator is to bridge the theory-practice gap between nursing education and practice. Since the merger of the nursing colleges in the Eastern Cape Province (South Africa) and the abolishment of the clinical department in the hospital it became essential to evaluate the clinical facilitation needs of students and tutors. For the purpose of this study the researcher evaluated the clinical facilitation, with the focus area being on the clinical needs and problems of nursing tutors and nursing students at a nursing college in the Eastern Cape Province. The objectives of this study were to determine the following: the clinical facilitation needs of student nurses of the Nursing College, clinical facilitation needs of tutors of the Nursing College, clinical facilitation related problems facing student nurses and tutors in the Nursing College and associations between the clinical facilitation of the campuses of the Nursing College. The following research question was evaluated: What are the needs and problems of nursing students and tutors in clinical facilitation at the Lilitha Nursing College? The research methodology was a descriptive exploratory design with a quantitative approach. The population for this study was the fourth-year nursing students, and all tutors of the nursing college. A convenient sample was drawn. All students available at the time of data collection were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The final sample of students was N =100 (45%) of a total population of 222 students. The final sample of tutors was N=35 (36%) of a population of 97. Reliability and validity were assured by means of a pilot study and the use of experts in nursing education, research methodology and statistics. Data were collected personally by the researcher. Ethical approval was obtained from Stellenbosch University, Department of Health ECP, and Head of the Nursing College and Principals of the campuses. Informed written consent was obtained from the participants. Statistical associations with reference to clinical facilitation between the various campuses of the nursing college were determined using the Chi-square tests. The results of this study are presented in percentages, tables and histograms. On completion of the study the following recommendations were made: standardization of policies and procedures; preplanning and publishing of clinical placement dates; manuals, rules, student needs and outcomes be available before clinical placement; improvement of communication between clinical staff, facilitators and students; improvement of infrastructure, equipment and materials.

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. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Submitted in fulfillment for the requirements of M Technology : Nursing, Department of Nursing, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Background All nursing students need to undergo clinical training for them to be competent practitioners when they qualify. According to the South African Nursing Council (SANC) training facilities are accredited only if the clinical training component is effective. Therefore, it is important that students are accompanied in order for them to grow professionally and have values as future health care professionals. In nursing education, a student throughout the nursing training course receives instruction both theoretically and clinically in the subjects prescribed in the curriculum by the SANC. Clinical instruction is effected through clinical teaching and learning, which is a requirement by the nursing regulatory body, the SANC. For an undergraduate programme a student has to spend a minimum of 1000 hours per year in clinical placement to meet programme outcomes. It is the responsibility of all nursing schools, colleges and universities to ensure that each student meets these requirements. For this to be effective it has to be facilitated by lecturers and clinical instructors, through teaching and learning strategies to enable students to perform the clinical skill with knowledge and eventual competence. Therefore, clinical instructors are there to ensure that the students are competent in all skills, such as cognitive, affective as well as psychomotor skills. This will be beneficial to the programme in reduction of rates of failure and dropout and again by producing competent practitioners. A positive relationship and collaboration between the clinical training institutions and clinical placement facilities is vital for student achievement, especially because the clinical instructors assist students in correlating theory and practice. This study sought to assess the clinical training component of an undergraduate programme at this UoT in KwaZulu Natal. Findings may inform an improved clinical instruction programme as no such study had been undertaken. Methods A qualitative and quantitative design was used to explore feelings, perceptions as well as experiences of staff and student nurses with regard to clinical training component. Stratified random sampling was used to select student nurses according to levels of training and questionnaires were used to collect data. All permanently employed staff who had been working over six months were selected since they were directly or indirectly involved in the clinical facilitation. A focus group interview was conducted for the clinical instructors and questionnaires were used for the lecturers to collect data. Themes and sub-themes emerged and on analysis they were compared to the findings from the quantitative survey. Results and discussion The results revealed that collaboration of clinical placement facilities and training institutions is important for student’s support since all parties are able to communicate freely and students benefit. Students stated that they did not get enough support since the clinical facilitators were short staffed and they were also allocated to facilities that were far from the campus. The respondents cited problems during clinical accompaniments as there were very high expectations by staff members in the placement areas regarding student support. Lecturers were also expected to involve themselves in clinical accompaniment to bridge theory-practice gap. The employment of mentors will assist in student support as the mentors will be at placement areas and the staff and students easily contact them. Conclusion From the interviews the researcher managed to come up with important aspects that should be included in an accompaniment tool when developed, which should be user friendly to both lecturers and clinical facilitators. It will thus assist students with critical skills including critical thinking when performing any patient related nursing skill. It was recommended that the UoT management support staff by attending to their concerns including finding more clinical placement facilities close to the campus.