Key Clinical Themes

3.3. Key themes:

The key themes that emerge from the articles were;

• Emotional Distress about placement area

• Improving self-confidence and competence

• Support from staff and a sense of belonging

• Meeting educational needs and gaining skills

Emotional distress about placement area:

Anxiety and emotional distress is a natural part of nursing (Chou et al, 2015). Findings revealed that for most students once they had integrated into the clinical setting, their anxieties were reduced (Tastan et al, 2015; Hunter, 2010; Alasad et al, 2015; Coyne and Needham,2012). Students reported it was due to the busy environment, unfamiliar equipment, and conditions (Tastan 2015;Hunter 2010;James & Chapman, 2010). Hunter (2010) expressed that students

One student from Ford et al's (pp 4, 2015) study stated that "the nurses on the ward were most helpful in facilitating our learning opportunities and encouraging us to get in and have a go". Clinical placements are designed to build students confidence and competence (Yiend et al, 2016) and to shape them into a safe practitioner. Ford et al (2015) found that students from all cohorts felt the benefit of hands-on experience and results of all the students survey across the semester gave a positive score of 19 and above in this area, see Table 3 (pp 4) in the study. Once again the role of the mentor was also highlighted in relationship to building on self-confidence but had a positive representation as a student commented: "Nurses that were understanding of the situation and asked/encouraged us to participate in things" (Ford et al, pp 4, 2015). Building confidence through participating in care is an effective method of building students confidence (Edwards et al, 2004). Understanding the different tools that can be used to build students confidence and competence in practice is important to making appropriate recommendations later on (Edward et al,

Coyne and Needham (2012) suggested it would be beneficial for the university and the clinical area to liaise closely to develop these learning objectives. This is supported by Tastan et al's (2013) research, which suggests there is a need for increased emphasis within the nursing curriculum for specific to the ICU clinical area.

Alsad et al (2015) also indicated that the nursing education system needs to provide specialized education on how to care for critically ill patients. Collaboration needs to occur between clinical placement areas and educators so the students receive the most effective experience (Alasad,