It's complicated: staff nurse perceptions of their influence on nursing students' learning

The focus of this study is to extend our knowledge of teacher-led clinical practica from the perspective of the staff nurse. Nurses' self-appraisal of their contributions to nursing students' learning is an important element in enhancing our understanding of clinical education. This is particularly important in nursing education, in which much of the integrated learning takes place within the context of complex hospital environments and is often rooted in the informal interactions that occur between students and staff nurses. The student-staff nurse relationship not only impacts students' learning outcomes, but also students' desire to remain in the program, and ultimately, the profession. Given the importance of these interactions to student learning outcomes and the fact that the staff nurses may not even perceive that these interactions are part of the learning cycle, it is time to examine this phenomenon more closely. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach to answer the question: How do staff nurses perceive their contributions to nursing students' learning during teacher-led practica? Interview transcripts of nine staff nurses' interviews within a Northern British Columbia regional hospital were analyzed. The findings show that nurses' interactions with nursing students is complicated. Nurses wanted to train up their future colleagues but felt a significant burden of responsibility when having students on the wards. The sense of burden for the staff nurses was influence by several factors: nurses' experience of the practice environment, their experience of the clinical instructor, their experiences of the students themselves, and their understanding of their own contributions to nursing students' learning. Despite the multiple factors that contributed to the staff nurses' sense of burden, they remained willing to support learning. Implications for nursing education, nursing practice, and future research are discussed. --Leaves ii-iii.