Nursing education in gerontological clinical settings: What do elderly patients think of student-rendered care?

Gerontological units are commonly used as clinical placements for first year nursing students, but the ethics of sending novice nursing students to gerontological units for their first clinical placement is often challenged. Although this environment allows student learning at a slower pace, some believe that students are practicing on a captive population and that this undervalues the specialist knowledge and skills required to care for older patients. This qualitative study explores the perspectives of 12 older patients in long-term care hospitals who had first-year nursing students involved in their care. Data were gathered using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis of data then identified themes and patterns used by older adults to describe their perspectives of student-rendered care. Findings revealed that with the exception of one patient, this group of older patients found first-year student-nurse-rendered care to be a positive experience. The emergent themes indicated that patients enjoyed the extra care, attention, and the increased social opportunities the students provided. The patients also demonstrated an interest in participating in student learning. The findings are discussed in relation to social exchange theory and the concept of reciprocity.