Posted by Clinical placement is an essential component of nursing programmes. It allows students to apply their academic knowledge and skills to an authentic, real-world scenario. The purpose of this clinical placement is to help students grow confidence, develop competence, and fill in the knowledge gap between theoretical concepts and practical skills to evolve as registered nurses.
Well, this sounds easy and simple, but it’s not; every programme comes with a certain set of challenges, and so does a nursing programme. These challenges can be difficult to face and can affect the overall experience, personal and professional development, and well-being. If you are a nursing practitioner and just a beginner, then you must be aware of these challenges, and if not, then read this blog further and explore the common challenges of nursing placement
Common Challenges During Clinical Placement
1. High standards and performance pressure
Nursing students feel so much pressure during their clinical placement because their professors expect a lot from them. And it’s kind of fair because the clinical setting demands that students fulfill all the expectations and show their high level of nursing skills and knowledge. However, it feels fair to professors but not to students because they feel overwhelmed, and performance pressure leads them to stress, anxiety, and even academic burnout.
Impact:
Under the pressure and meeting certain expectations of their mentors, students feel anxiety. They fear that they may fail their mentors, and the thought can affect their overall academic performance and sometimes their mental and physical well-being.
Solution:
To overcome this challenge, the only solution is to ensure that students feel a safe space. Their professors and mentors must offer them a place where they can learn from their mistakes instead of getting judged or criticised by them. In academic settings, mentor support is essential.
Clinical instructors offer their positive and constructive feedback instead of focusing on perfectionism. When students feel that their efforts are appreciated, it will help them focus on learning more than just focusing on the outcomes. This can definitely help them relieve the pressure.
2. Juggling academic obligations and clinical placements
Nursing students have a lot on their plates at the same time. From clinical placements to writing assignments and coursework. They have balanced everything. Clinical placement requires a lot of time, sometimes just hours, but sometimes it stretches to long weekends and leaves no time for other tasks or completing assignments.
Impact:
Having an imbalance between academic and clinical responsibilities can lead to serious issues. You try to fit in both settings and feel overwhelmed and overburdened. This will lead to severe anxiety and can affect your performance in both settings.
Solution:
In this kind of situation, effective time management can help maintain a balance between academic and clinical settings. Nursing programmes must include activities where they teach students to prioritise their tasks and manage their time effectively. Nursing programmes can also think about giving students longer deadlines for submissions during their placement periods.
3. Emotional and physical exhaustion
Nursing work settings require you to be physically available; that can be tiring. Nursing students deal with patient care and heavy equipment and are required to be on their toes for long hours. Besides, they encounter so many end-of-life situations that can be very overwhelming for them to deal with. For students who have just started their careers as nurses, this can be very exhausting, especially for those who struggle with developing coping mechanisms.
Impact:
Emotional weariness can make students unengaged and emotionally drained, while physical depletion can result in exhaustion. It all can lead to long-term burnout and diminished capacity for concentration.
Solution:
The only solution to overcome these challenges is for students to learn to manage their stress and maintain emotional resilience. Every nursing institute must offer some resources and conduct workshops to teach students time management and self-care. Emotional intelligence can help you overcome this challenge and your nursing environment. As nursing students with a workload, consider taking small breaks. Try to communicate your thoughts with your peers and mentors; it helps to release stress.
4. Handling difficult patients and families
Nursing jobs aren’t easy; they’re tiring and exhausting, but the most difficult part of this job is that you have to interact with different patients and their families. Some of them are in deep pain, some are anxious, and some are dealing with severe conditions. Sounds normal, right?
But when patients get aggressive and non-compliant, that’s where it becomes more challenging. Additionally, nursing students have to deal with the patient’s family as well, who can be in an emotional and vulnerable situation and hard to deal with.
Impact:
Nursing students can experience a stressful environment when they deal with difficult patients. It can be very frustrating and confusing. Sometimes, students have self-doubt that they are even right for this job; they feel unsure when they have no idea how to handle conflict.
Solution:
To overcome this feeling and challenge, every institution must conduct a programme where they teach and train students to communicate in conflicting situations and how to deal with them. This programme can include role-playing scenarios and debriefing sessions, and even experienced nurses can share their experiences and skills with students to help them build confidence and skills to handle such difficult situations.
Students can learn empathy and professionalism. One more thing to navigate this is that students can seek guidance in situations when they feel unsure.
5. Insufficient guidance and assistance
The purpose of clinical placements is to offer practical experience to students under the professional guidance of certified healthcare professionals, but still, students still don’t get enough support. This can happen when there is limited staff in busy healthcare settings. This can leave students with no support and feedback, and they feel more confused and demotivated, which makes it difficult for them to improve.
Impact:
Students feel alone, isolated, and even insecure about their skills and abilities when they don’t get enough support and feedback. Additionally, in such a situation when they feel insecure, they are prone to make mistakes that can affect patient care and put their job at risk as well. They may also be at risk of making mistakes in high-pressure situations.
Solution:
To overcome this situation, every student must have access to a mentor or healthcare professional. This will help students to get continuous support and feedback throughout their placement. One more thing that can help is to have a buddy system. Yes, students can form bonds and support systems with their colleagues and help each other. Structured evaluation and routine check-ins can also help in knowing which areas require more support.
6. Exposure to safety issues and workplace hazards
Nursing students get to know about various risks, including infections and diseases, and even physical injuries from lifting and moving patients during their clinical placements. They also get exposure to workplace violence. All this can happen and increase the chance of accidents and injuries if students get insufficient training or if they don’t follow the proper protocols.
Impact:
Nursing students can be at risk of getting physical and mental injuries because of workplace threats. The fear of getting injured and sick makes them stop fully engaging in the learning process.
Solution:
Nursing programmes must guarantee that every student will get training and thorough instructions on workplace safety. This may include patient care practice, proper infection control protocols, and standards for identifying and controlling potential risks. Prioritising the safety process should be an essential part of the training. Also, they should make sure that every student has personal protective equipment and the required training to combat these risks.
7. Sensitivity to gender and culture
Nursing students often work with patients from different cultures and socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. This job is already a tough task, but when all these factors are added, it makes it tougher. Interacting with people from different cultures makes it more challenging for nursing students, especially when they are new to their cultural beliefs, languages, and practices.
Being a nurse and facing such a situation when you have no idea what to say and how to react becomes a real challenge. Additionally, in nursing, when it comes to gender sensitivity becomes a real issue, especially when students are performing intimate and private operations.
Impact:
When you’re dealing with patients from different cultures, a lack of awareness or sensitivity can lead to complicated situations and misunderstandings. It can create discomfort for both you and your patient. Furthermore, when dealing with gender-sensitive situations, nursing students can feel unprepared and awkward, which can lead to a lower standard of care and put patients at risk.
Solutions:
Every nursing programme conducts a programme where they teach students about different cultures and the sensitivity that people have towards them. To help them gain a deep understanding of a variety of patient populations, clinical settings must include cultural competency training in their program curriculum. This will help you become aware of the variation in communication approaches, heretical practices, and beliefs. With cultural awareness, gender sensitivity training should also be included because it helps students to be confident and considerate while providing care in such circumstances.
Wrapping It Up
Nursing is a tough job; students can feel exhausted and face challenges like complex environments and fatigue during their clinical placements. Well, every struggle makes you learn something valuable – experiences and learnings that you can reflect on in life. With the proper support and a set of skills, you can easily achieve success and excel in your nursing career. Moreover, you can get nursing help services from professionals and get guidance if you have any queries in the field of nursing.