Abstract
Introduction: clinical facilitation is a fundamental component of nursing education and is vital for the development of student nurses’ clinical competence. It is the process of helping and guiding students to work effectively to achieve their learning outcomes in their clinical learning environment and clinical skills laboratory; and it involves planning activities that may stimulate and support their learning. In countries like Australia, Canada, UK, North America and Ireland, clinical teaching of student nurses is facilitated by clinical facilitators who are always present in the clinical environment, who work directly with students and are referred to as clinical educators or clinical facilitators. The primary responsibility of these clinical facilitators is to facilitate clinical teaching.
Purpose of study: the purpose of this study was to understand the registered nurses’ perceptions regarding the role of a clinical facilitator, to describe recommendations to improve clinical teaching and learning in a public hospital in Gauteng.
Design applied: a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used to explore and describe registered nurses’ perceptions regarding the role of a clinical facilitator. Recommendations were also provided on the importance of clinical facilitation of nurses in clinical areas by a clinical facilitator for ensuring that quality nursing care is rendered to patients. The study population was registered nurses who have more than five years’ experience after being registered with South African National Counsel (SANC). Registered nurses were selected to participate in the study because registered nurses are working hand in hand with clinical facilitators in clinical areas. Data was collected in a seminar room and unstructured interviews were done on face-to-face presentation. Giorgi’s thematic analysis method was used to analyse data.
The study’s findings are articulated in four themes: Theme 1: Role of a clinical facilitator. Theme 2: Shortage of clinical facilitators. Theme 3: Restructuring of clinical training in the hospitals. Theme 4: Policies and infrastructures.
Recommendations to address clinical facilitation of nurses in clinical areas have been encouraged. The study’s strategies, limitations, and conclusions about nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research were also presented.
Keywords: Clinical education, Clinical facilitator, Perception, Public hospital, Registered nurse.