What do nursing students contribute to clinical practice? The perceptions of working nurses

PurposeThe study purpose was to elicit factors that caused satisfaction and dissatisfaction for staff registered nurses (RNs) who participated in two types of nurse student interactions: clinical rotation role-model and student preceptorship.BackgroundThe limited availability of practice sites for clinical experiences places essential importance on the need to understand RNs' perceptions of students' effect on their practice.MethodsThis cross sectional descriptive study surveyed RNs who worked at six acute care hospitals in two multi-hospital not-for-profit community healthcare systems in southeastern United States, using the Nursing Students' Contributions to Clinical Agencies (NSCCA) survey via SurveyMonkey®.ResultsRegistered nurses had positive perceptions of students' contributions in clinical rotations and student preceptorships, specifically, enhancement of the nurses' professional development was a satisfier for participants. Nurses who were student preceptors and nurses with less than ten years of experience had the most positive perceptions. Nurses in the peri-natal setting had the least positive perceptions of students' contributions.ConclusionsFindings from the NSCCA survey can reveal satisfiers and dis-satisfiers for RNs participating in nurse–student interactions, which academic and clinical practice nurse leaders can use to enhance the RNs' experiences. Results were used to create a series RN student preceptor training classes, which incorporated educational content that highlighted satisfiers and remediated dis-satisfiers.