Correlation between implementation case reflection discussion based on the Graham Gibbs Cycle and nurses’ critical thinking skills

Exploring Undergraduate Nursing Students' Perceptions on Clinical Learning Environment in the UAE: A Focus on Perceived Benefits and Challenges

Introduction

Establishing a supportive clinical environment is paramount for enhancing nursing students' engagement in clinical practice, their clinical proficiencies, and satisfaction. The increase in nursing student enrollment at the Nursing College, driven by the collaborative efforts between Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) and universities, has given rise to concerns regarding the quality of education and clinical instruction. These concerns are primarily due to the increased student-to-instructor ratio. Furthermore, the unsupportive clinical settings and learning tensions underscore the need to understand students' learning experiences and address research gaps within the field of clinical learning in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to investigate the undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of their clinical learning environment, with a focus on perceived benefits and challenges.

Methods

This study used a cross-sectional survey design. The researchers administered a five-point Likert scale questionnaire, which had been adapted and contextualized, to a convenience sample of 217 third and fourth-year nursing students who willingly participated in this study.

Results

Despite the presence of positive aspects, such as diverse clinical experiences and strong support from both clinical instructors and peers, several challenges affect the students' clinical learning. These challenges encompass disparate perceptions of supervision among staff nurses, learning tensions related to student academic workload, insufficient clinical supervision, and difficulties in finding assistance when needed.

Conclusion

There is a clear need to enhance the overall ward learning environment to optimize students' academic motivation and clinical skills. Several measures can be taken to achieve this goal, including incentivizing and reducing the workload of staff nurses, investing in the professional development of clinical instructors, promoting peer interactions and group learning, and adopting a block pattern of education in years three and four for better clinical knowledge assimilation and reduced theoretical workload.

Reflective Practices in Education: A Primer for Practitioners

This essay serves as an introduction for practitioners to reflective practices in education. Benefits, methods for engaging in reflective practices and potential challenges are highlighted with further resources outlined in the supplemental materials.

The Effects of Case-Based Teaching in Nursing Skill Education: Cases Do Matter

Nursing skill education plays a very important part for the nursing education. It's necessary to analyze the role of the case-based teaching (CBT) in nursing skill education, to provide insights into the nursing education. The sophomore nursing students who received nursing skill teaching from September 2019 to January 2020 were selected. The students either underwent traditional teaching (control group) or CBT (CBT group) intervention. The objective structure clinical examination (OSCE), autonomous learning ability, questionnaire for effects evaluation of CBT, and student's satisfaction level on CBT were analyzed. A total of 146 participants were included. There were no significant differences in the gender, age and the final exam score as freshman between 2 groups (all P > .05). The OSCE scores and autonomous learning ability in CBT group were significantly higher than that of control group (all P < .05). The most students favored the use of CBT, and most students were satisfied with CBT. CBT is beneficial to improve the nursing skill and comprehensive ability of students, and it's conducive to increase the interest of students, which merits application in nursing education.