*Says students facing stress, anxiety
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Apr 17: A study conducted by senior nursing officers at SKIMS, Soura has outlined several challenges posed by nursing students in the clinical settings, affecting patient care at the hospital while pitching for the need for effective supervision and guidance for nursing students in the hospital.
An observational case study titled ‘The Challenges Posed by Nursing Students in the Clinical Settings: Case Observations from SKIMS Soura’ has been published in the current issue of the International Journal of Emergency and Trauma Nursing and has been authored by Noorul Amin and Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, both Senior Nursing Officers at SKIMS.
The study has emphasized the need for better communication, bringing nursing students under the control of nursing administration for better outcomes, while noting that the nursing officers at the hospital observed that behaviours, interest, discipline, and approach to patient care are indifferent and vague as depicted by actions of nursing students in the clinical settings.
“This behaviour creates nuisance for on-duty nursing officers and affects the teaching-learning process in clinical areas,” the study notes.
Outlining the challenges, it states that the observations were made on more than 50 nursing students who were gaining clinical skills in surgical emergencies of SKIMS Soura belonging to B.Sc. Nursing second-year and third-year students.
The study further states that the lack of professionalism and communication skills among nursing students at SKIMS surgical emergency was also observed, including their failure to introduce themselves to nursing officers, follow protocols for entering and leaving wards, and communicate effectively with clinical instructors and peers.
As per the study, the lack of proper training and supervision for nursing students often results in inadequate care delivery and insufficiently developed communication skills, disrupting patient care. “The students’ inadequate understanding of the purpose of nursing rounds also highlights the need for better training and education.”
The lack of preparedness and knowledge was also noted in the study among nursing students during clinical experiences which have been stated to hinder their ability to learn and provide quality care to clients.
“This was evidenced by the inability of many students to display objectives, calculate medication dosages, and other basic health care skills, as well as their unwillingness to learn,” study stated said, adding that an example of this lack of preparedness is illustrated by a student administering the wrong medication.
The nursing students were observed to experience high levels of anxiety and hesitation when assigned tasks, such as administering IV drugs, providing health education, and attending to trauma patients, which negatively impacts their learning process and patient care.
“The nursing students must be supervised and taught in clinical areas by the clinical instructors. The clinical instructors should be the preceptor nurse or nursing officers having the required qualification and we must incorporate dual-role concepts in clinical settings. The patient’s care begins with good IRP and communication skills.”
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