Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Mathisen, Cathrine
• Heyn, Lena Günterberg
• Jacobsen, Turid-Iren
• Bjørk, Ida Torunn
• Hansen, Elisabeth Holm

Titel

The use of practice education facilitators to strengthen the clinical learning environment for nursing students: A realist review

Ist Teil von

• International journal of nursing studies, 2022-10, Vol.134, p.104258-104258, Article 104258

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Research suggests that the interventions of practice education facilitators, who liaise between the higher education institution and the clinical placement sites, may strengthen the clinical learning environment for nursing students. However, there is a lack of evidence concerning the value of these roles in nursing education. The objective of this study was to explore how, under what circumstances and why the practice education facilitator role can strengthen the clinical learning environment for nursing students. A realist review was conducted to understand the contextual factors and mechanisms that support or hinder the capacity of the practice education facilitator to strengthen the clinical learning environment for nursing students. The settings are clinical areas where nursing students are directly involved with patient care. The participants comprised academic and clinical staff involved in clinical nursing education. This realist review was conducted in three overlapping and iterative phases: (1) the development of an initial programme theory explaining how the practice education facilitator role is thought to strengthen the clinical learning environment; (2) structured searches, screening and data extraction; and (3) analysis and synthesis to develop and refine the programme theory. The review included 27 research papers. Evidence from these studies led to the development of five context–mechanism–outcome configurations that explain how, under what circumstances and why practice education facilitators can (or can fail to) strengthen the clinical learning environment. Factors such as practice education facilitators’ visibility and accessibility in the clinical area and their clinical credibility were found to influence whether clinical supervisors took the opportunity to seek support and guidance from them. Moreover, ward culture regarding student learning and opportunities to prepare for the role were found to influence clinical supervisors’ motivation to carry out the functions of the role and develop professionally; this in turn further influenced whether they used the resources provided by the practice education facilitator. Theory-based explanations of how, under what circumstances and why the practice education facilitator role may strengthen the clinical learning environment of nursing students may support further development of this role in the future. •Clinical placement and opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to authentic patient care have long been recognised as pivotal for nursing students’ development of clinical competence.•The quality of the clinical learning environment, especially the role of the clinical supervisor, influences nursing students’ opportunities to achieve their learning outcomes and develop clinical competence.•Various placement support roles in which nurse educators work within the clinical field to promote and support clinical nursing education, have been introduced over the years. •This realist review demonstrates how, under what circumstances and why the practice education facilitator role can (or can fail to) strengthen the clinical learning environment for nursing students.•The practice education facilitator role is valuable in nursing education because it enables clinical supervisors to provide a supportive clinical learning environment for nursing students.•Whether the use of practice education facilitators in nursing education leads to the intended outcome is contingent on contextual components, such as time allocated for the role and visibility and accessibility within the clinical learning environment.