Undergraduate nursing students experience of clinical supervision
Date
2018-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS
Abstract
Background: Clinical supervision plays a major role in the undergraduate nursing programme.
There have been some local studies addressing clinical supervision; however, there still remains
a lack of knowledge and understanding how to improve quality supervision of undergraduate
nursing students. This article is based on the authors’ original thesis.
Objectives: The objective of the study was to explore the experiences of undergraduate
nursing students on clinical supervision.
Method: A descriptive design with a qualitative approach using focus group interviews was
used to explore the experiences of undergraduate nursing students regarding clinical
supervision. Purposive sampling was used for selection of 36 participants. The participants
needed to be enrolled at the institution under study, at the time of the study, as undergraduate
nursing students in order to meet the inclusion criteria. The participants also needed to have
worked at clinical facilities where they received clinical supervision. Nine (n = 9) students
were purposively selected from each year level to participate in focus group interviews. The
interviews were analysed using content analysis.
Results: The findings indicated both positive and negative experiences regarding clinical
supervision. The results were tabulated in which the positive experiences were grouped
together and were separated from the negative experiences of the undergraduate students.
Positive experiences included the support that was received from supervisors. These were,
however, overshadowed by many comments on negative experiences concerning the behaviour
and competencies of the supervisors. The findings also confirmed that the students experienced
differences in the clinical procedures demonstrated by various supervisors. Negative
experiences that relate to abusive behaviour such as misuse of power were also found, as well
the incongruence amongst clinical supervisors regarding clinical procedures. Recommendations
were proposed to enhance clinical supervision and the learning experiences of student nurses.
Conclusion: The study findings suggest a need for continuous professional development for
clinical supervisors by means of in-service training as well as to maintain congruence by
clinical supervisors when demonstrating clinical procedures.
Description
CITATION: Donough, G. & Van der Heever, M. 2018. 'Undergraduate nursing students’ experience of clinical supervision’. Curationis, 41(1), a1833, doi:10.4102/
curationis.v41i1.1833.
The original publication is available at https://curationis.org.za/index.php/curationis
This research article is based on a masters available at http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86575
The original publication is available at https://curationis.org.za/index.php/curationis
This research article is based on a masters available at http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86575
Keywords
Nursing students, Clinical supervision, Undergraduate nursing programme, Quality supervision, Undergraduate nursing students
Citation
Donough, G. & Van der Heever, M. 2018. 'Undergraduate nursing students’ experience of clinical supervision’. Curationis, 41(1), a1833, doi:10.4102/
curationis.v41i1.1833.