• To be aware of the challenges that nursing students may experience during clinical placements
• To enable you to provide effective support for nursing students during their clinical placements, thus enhancing their learning
• To count towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD, or you may wish to write a reflective account (UK readers)
• To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)
Clinical placements can present a significant challenge for nursing students, since the learning environment differs from that of the classroom, involving potential risks and complicated interpersonal and interprofessional relationships. The array of decisions required on clinical placements can be confusing for nursing students, which can cause them to doubt their skills and knowledge. This article describes the challenges involved in clinical placements, and discusses the importance of person-centred care and techniques such as reasoning and reflection that can improve nursing students’ learning in practice. It uses two case studies to illustrate how clinical supervisors and mentors can design clinical placements that enable nursing students to develop their skills, knowledge and self-confidence.
Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2019.e11328
CitationPrice B (2019) Improving nursing students’ experience of clinical placements. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2019e11328
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Published online: 10 June 2019
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