Potential outcomes of clinical experience

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Clinical experience is a core component of baccalaureate nursing programs.
• The specific learning outcomes derived from clinical experience remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential outcomes of clinical experience in baccalaureate nursing students.
• To investigate the impact of clinical experience on clinical judgment and professional identity development.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory study design was employed with 16 baccalaureate nursing students.
• Participants were divided into a control group (with clinical experience) and an experimental group (without clinical experience).
• Data collection instruments were used to assess outcomes.

Main Results:

• The hypothesis that clinical experience increases accurate clinical nursing judgments was not supported.
• The hypothesis that clinical experience enhances professional identity development was not supported.
• Analysis indicated that learning outcomes of clinical experience are not yet identified.

Conclusions:

• Current evidence does not support the presumed benefits of clinical experience on judgment and identity in nursing students.
• Further investigation is required to define and measure the actual learning outcomes associated with nursing clinical experience.