Creating the Optimal Clinical Environment
Nurse educators are responsible for both didactic and clinical education. Much thought and planning goes into determining clinical content and clinical placements. Before you can negotiate clinical partnerships, you must decide on the type of clinical experiences students need and where they can get them. After completing this week’s reading, and reflecting on your experiences as a student, consider how an educator should go about making these kinds of decisions.
Initial Post: Use these prompts to think about the topic and share your ideas.
- How would things like active learning, action and reflection, and higher level thinking influence your decisions about student placement (i.e. where would you place new students vs. senior students and why)?
- Scheduling students on the same floor for longer periods of time allows students to adjust and feel comfortable in the learning environment. On the other hand, more frequent changes may provide a greater variety of clinical experiences. As an educator, how do you choose? Which do you prefer? Which do you think students prefer? Support your answers with information about best practices.
- What balance of clinical observation vs. hands on care is optimal and why?
- Who should have the greater role in guiding and supervising students on a clinical floor, the instructor or staff nurses/preceptors? How might this be negotiated/configured.
