Professional Experience Placement

The recent publication of a study that describes the characteristics of successful and unsuccessful clinical performance  (Lewallen and Debrew 2012) of  nursing students provides pertinent information that can be used to develop strategies to recognise and remediate potential at risk students early in their professional experience placements. The authors discuss the difficulties associated with evaluating student performance in practice and proposed that  if there was more clarity regarding unsatisfactory behaviours clinical evaluation of students would be less ambiguous.

the characteristics that differentiated successful from unsuccessful students included communication; level of preparation and functioning in the clinical area. Successful students could build relationships and communicate with staff, patients, clients and colleagues. These students also showed progress, accepted feedback and adapted easily in the  experiential environment. Additionally these students could think critically and integrate theory into their clinical experiences that included developing a plan of care for their patients and providing safe care. The authors also discussed that successful students had a positive attitude and were concerned about patient safety.

The paper also describes struggling students and those that required remediation. The authors suggested that identifying unsuccessful behaviours is key to prevention of implementation of remediation strategies. They propose that prior to commencement of placement that students are prepared for their placement by discussing how to prepare for placement and the expected process and content of the potential experiences. At the commencement of a professional experience placement the authors suggest that students are counselled about the expectations of the workplace.

The third characteristic of functioning in the clinical area discussed the development of appropriate communication skills and understanding of safety through using simulation experiences to prepare students prior to going into the practice environment.

Have you identified successful and unsuccessful students during your supervision of students? Do you have any ideas or tips you can share with others, you are welcome to post them here. Please join us @PEPCommunity.