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Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience During the Internship Year at Different Hospitals: A Qualitative Study

Received: 1 August 2019     Accepted: 10 September 2019     Published: 26 September 2019
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Abstract

Background: An internship programme is an important period that enables nursing students to work and function as primary nurses, with three to eight patients per shift, in order to develop their clinical skills by integrating theory with practice and improving their assessment, problem solving, and interpersonal skills. Having undergraduate nursing interns from different colleges in one clinical placement may explain the variation regarding the factors, challenges, and barriers that affect students’ clinical practice during the internship period. Study aim: This study aimed to explore the clinical practice experiences of nursing students doing internship years at different hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Method: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with nursing interns from the Faculty of Nursing at a university in Saudi Arabia, who were doing internship years at different hospitals. The study participants were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected via three semi-structured focus group interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Educational programmes, hospital orientation programmes, and mentorship programmes were all highlighted as the most important influencing factors in the interns’ clinical practice. In addition, unfair treatment, the ignorance of healthcare professionals, and being involved in non-nursing work were highlighted as challenging factors that negatively affected the interns’ clinical practice. Conclusion: There is a need for continuous educational programmes and mentorship programmes to be provided for all nursing interns, in particular by hospital education departments. In addition, a clear job description and list of responsibilities for all nursing interns should be provided at the start of the internship programme in order to prevent interns from being involved in non-nursing work.

Published in American Journal of Nursing Science (Volume 8, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18
Page(s) 255-262
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Nursing Students, Internship Programme, Clinical Practice, Challenges in Clinical Practice

References
[1] Saudi Commission for Health Specialities. (2019 Retrieved from https://www.scfhs.org.sa/Registration/Regulation/Pages/Nursing.aspx.
[2] Diane M. Haleem, Wendy Manetti, & Kathleen Evanina, & Robin Gallagher (2011). A Senior Internship Facilitating the Transition to Nursing Practice. Nurse Educator, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 208-213.
[3] Olson, R. K., Gresley, R. S., & Heater, B. S. (1984). The Effects of an Undergraduate Clinical Internshipon the Self-Concept and Professional Role Mastery of Baccalaureate Nursing Students. Journal of Nursing Education, 1984; 23 (3); 105-108.
[4] Najjar, H. A., & Rawas, H. (2018), Factors Affecting the Clinical Practice of Nursing Interns at Tertiary Hospital Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Studies in Nursing; Vol. 3, No. 3; 2018.
[5] Cheraghi, M. A., Salasli, M., & Ahmadi, F. (2007). Iranian nurses' perceptions of theoretical knowledge transfer into clinical practice; A grounded theory approach. Nursing and Health Sciences, 9, 212–220.
[6] Edwards, H., Smith, S., Courtney, M., Finlayson, K., & Chapman, H. (2004). The impact of clinical placement location on nursing students' competence and preparedness for practice. Nursing Education Today, 24 (4) 248-255.
[7] Atakro, C., Armah, E., Menlah, A., Garti, I., Addo, S., Adatara, P., & Boni, G. (2019). Clinical placement experiences by undergraduate nursing students in selected teaching hospitals in Ghana. BMC Nursing (2019) 18; 1.
[8] Al-Momani, M. M. (2017). Difficulties Encountered by Final-Year Male Nursing Students in Their Internship Programmes. Malays J Med Sci. 2017 Aug; 24 (4); 30–38.
[9] Aboshaiqah, A., Tumala, R., Patalagsa, J., Al-Khaibary, A., Al Fozan, H., & Ben, J. (2018). Perceptions of confidence among Saudi nursing interns during internship program; A cross-sectional study. Ann Saudi Med. 2018 Jul-Aug; 38 (4); 288–298.
[10] Aboshaiqah, A., & Qasim. A. (2018), Nursing interns' perception of clinical competence upon completion of preceptorship experience in Saudi Arabia. UK; Elsevier Volume 68, September 2018, Pages 53-60.
[11] Gray, J., Grove, s. & Sutherland, S. (2017). The Practice of Nursing Research; Appraisal, Synthesis, and Generation of Evidence (8th ed.). UK; Elsevier.
[12] Polit, D. and Beck, C. (2018). Essentials of Nursing Research; Appraising Evidence for Nursing Practice (9th ed.). USA; Wolters Kluwer.
[13] Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods (3rd ed.). New York, Oxford; University Press Inc.
[14] Goodman, C. & Evans, C. (2010). Focus Group (6th ed.). Oxford; A John Wiley & Sons Ltd Publication.
[15] Logina, A., & Traynor. M. (2019). The relationship between effective transition models and the optimal management of patient care. British Journal of Nursing, 2019, Vol 28, No 3.
[16] Weng, R., Huang, C., Tsai, W., Chang, L., Lin, S., & Lee, M. (2010). Exploring the impact of mentoring functions on job satisfaction and organizational commitment of new staff nurses. BMC Health Services Research 2010, 10; 240.
[17] Al-Kandari, F., & Thomas, D. (2008). Adverse nurse outcomes; Correlation to nurses' workload, staffing, and shift rotation in Kuwaiti hospitals. UK; Elsevier. Volume 21, Issue 3, August 2008, Pages 139-146.
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  • APA Style

    Samar Sultan Althaqafi, Hala Abdullah Alhatimi, Alhanouf Meteb Almalki, Ola Muneer Alyamani, Maram Ahmed Banakhar. (2019). Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience During the Internship Year at Different Hospitals: A Qualitative Study. American Journal of Nursing Science, 8(5), 255-262. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18

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    ACS Style

    Samar Sultan Althaqafi; Hala Abdullah Alhatimi; Alhanouf Meteb Almalki; Ola Muneer Alyamani; Maram Ahmed Banakhar. Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience During the Internship Year at Different Hospitals: A Qualitative Study. Am. J. Nurs. Sci. 2019, 8(5), 255-262. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18

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    AMA Style

    Samar Sultan Althaqafi, Hala Abdullah Alhatimi, Alhanouf Meteb Almalki, Ola Muneer Alyamani, Maram Ahmed Banakhar. Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience During the Internship Year at Different Hospitals: A Qualitative Study. Am J Nurs Sci. 2019;8(5):255-262. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18,
      author = {Samar Sultan Althaqafi and Hala Abdullah Alhatimi and Alhanouf Meteb Almalki and Ola Muneer Alyamani and Maram Ahmed Banakhar},
      title = {Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience During the Internship Year at Different Hospitals: A Qualitative Study},
      journal = {American Journal of Nursing Science},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {255-262},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajns.20190805.18},
      abstract = {Background: An internship programme is an important period that enables nursing students to work and function as primary nurses, with three to eight patients per shift, in order to develop their clinical skills by integrating theory with practice and improving their assessment, problem solving, and interpersonal skills. Having undergraduate nursing interns from different colleges in one clinical placement may explain the variation regarding the factors, challenges, and barriers that affect students’ clinical practice during the internship period. Study aim: This study aimed to explore the clinical practice experiences of nursing students doing internship years at different hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Method: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with nursing interns from the Faculty of Nursing at a university in Saudi Arabia, who were doing internship years at different hospitals. The study participants were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected via three semi-structured focus group interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Educational programmes, hospital orientation programmes, and mentorship programmes were all highlighted as the most important influencing factors in the interns’ clinical practice. In addition, unfair treatment, the ignorance of healthcare professionals, and being involved in non-nursing work were highlighted as challenging factors that negatively affected the interns’ clinical practice. Conclusion: There is a need for continuous educational programmes and mentorship programmes to be provided for all nursing interns, in particular by hospital education departments. In addition, a clear job description and list of responsibilities for all nursing interns should be provided at the start of the internship programme in order to prevent interns from being involved in non-nursing work.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Nursing Students’ Clinical Practice Experience During the Internship Year at Different Hospitals: A Qualitative Study
    AU  - Samar Sultan Althaqafi
    AU  - Hala Abdullah Alhatimi
    AU  - Alhanouf Meteb Almalki
    AU  - Ola Muneer Alyamani
    AU  - Maram Ahmed Banakhar
    Y1  - 2019/09/26
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18
    T2  - American Journal of Nursing Science
    JF  - American Journal of Nursing Science
    JO  - American Journal of Nursing Science
    SP  - 255
    EP  - 262
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5753
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20190805.18
    AB  - Background: An internship programme is an important period that enables nursing students to work and function as primary nurses, with three to eight patients per shift, in order to develop their clinical skills by integrating theory with practice and improving their assessment, problem solving, and interpersonal skills. Having undergraduate nursing interns from different colleges in one clinical placement may explain the variation regarding the factors, challenges, and barriers that affect students’ clinical practice during the internship period. Study aim: This study aimed to explore the clinical practice experiences of nursing students doing internship years at different hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Method: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with nursing interns from the Faculty of Nursing at a university in Saudi Arabia, who were doing internship years at different hospitals. The study participants were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected via three semi-structured focus group interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Educational programmes, hospital orientation programmes, and mentorship programmes were all highlighted as the most important influencing factors in the interns’ clinical practice. In addition, unfair treatment, the ignorance of healthcare professionals, and being involved in non-nursing work were highlighted as challenging factors that negatively affected the interns’ clinical practice. Conclusion: There is a need for continuous educational programmes and mentorship programmes to be provided for all nursing interns, in particular by hospital education departments. In addition, a clear job description and list of responsibilities for all nursing interns should be provided at the start of the internship programme in order to prevent interns from being involved in non-nursing work.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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