Preparing students for clinical placements: The student's perspective

Educating undergraduate nurses in the 21st century provides some very realistic challenges. Decreased government health budgets, increased student numbers and higher patient acuities have resulted in a reduction in the availability and quality of clinical placements. Simulated nursing practice is an innovative strategy designed to address these concerns. A simulation programme was designed for first year undergraduate nursing students to help prepare them for clinical placement. The aim of this research is to assess student perspectives and learning from the newly introduced simulation programme. This study is a descriptive design with Kolb's experiential theory providing a theoretical framework. 158 first year students taking part in a four day simulation programme chose to complete a questionnaire on programme completion. Students responded to five statements using a likert scale and categories developed and refined for the remaining four questions. Students reported significant learning in the areas of basic clinical skills and clinical documentation and collaborative care. 100% of students recommended the programme continue.