Undergraduate nursing students’ experiences of clinical placement in male psychiatric wards in Gauteng Province

Abstract

Introduction: Undergraduate nursing training for the comprehensive programme R.425, a course leading for registration as a Nurse (General, Psychiatric, Community) and Midwifery, incorporates the theory and clinical placement for experiential learning. In this programme, students are allocated to various health institutions including psychiatric hospitals to integrate theory into clinical practice, they are challenged with multiple situations that affect their academic performance and success. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of undergraduate nursing students during clinical placement in male psychiatric wards in Gauteng. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used of which the population was fourth-level undergraduate nursing students. Purposive sampling was used to select students.  Non-probability purposive, total population sampling was utilised. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews supported by an audio recorder and field notes. Tesch’s technique will be employed to analyse the data. Trustworthiness and ethical considerations were ensured Results: Three themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews: perceived anxiety levels; concern about safety and positive learning experience. Conclusions: Perceived anxiety levels of undergraduate nursing students that affected their clinical learning experience were identified from the research findings. In addition, the experiences of undergraduate nursing students from Gauteng University, during clinical placement in a male ward of a psychiatric institution were explored and described. Keywords: undergraduate nursing students, male psychiatric wards, male psychiatric patients, student’s clinical placement, student allocation and clinical practice.