"There was Only One Nurse for Everyone": Student Reflections of a School Nursing Clinical Experience

Undergraduate nursing faculty face challenges when teaching pediatric clinicals. Changes to pediatric care and hospital admissions have contributed to a shortage of clinical sites where students can learn to care for children with varied nursing needs. The purpose of this study was to describe benefits and barriers of pediatric clinical placements with a school health component.

A qualitative analysis of 38 student reflective journals was conducted to identify experiences following student participation in school nursing clinicals.

Three themes and three sub-themes were identified. Major themes included: benefits of the clinical experience, suggestions for improvement, and an appreciation for the school nurse role with subthemes of greater responsibility than anticipated, resource constraints, and lack of support.

School nursing clinical experiences allow nursing students to interact with children with broad range of ages, abilities, and health statuses, and preview a professional pathway they may otherwise never be exposed to. School nursing experiences also help nurse educators address the shortage of inpatient pediatric clinical site placements while facilitating student exposure to the impact of social justice and social determinants on child health.

Nurse educators are encouraged to incorporate school nursing clinical experiences in pediatric curricula. Partnering with school districts in which student enrollment reflects diversity in culture, socio-economic status, and access to healthcare should be a priority so students may see first-hand the impact of social determinants on the health of clients and populations.