Abstract

Background: Clinical education provides nursing students with an opportunity to develop the competency and skill needed to function within dynamic and complex settings. The unpredicted nature of clinical practice requires students who are well equipped and prepared to face the challenges of clinical learning environment. Little or no researches however addressed the issue of nursing students’ professional attributes as elements of readiness for clinical learning experiences. Despite the fact that educators agree on the importance of professional behaviors they however differ as to the perception of significance of each.
Objective: The current study aimed at exploring importance of professional attributes of nursing students as prior indicators of preparedness for successful clinical education. Study design: A cross-sectional approach was used to collect data pertinent for current study. Setting: This study was conducted at King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences -College of Nursing- Jeddah.
Study Sample: Convenient sampling technique was used for recruiting fifty-four nursing faculties as well as clinical teaching assistants for participation in the study.
Results: The range of means for the different dimensions of students’ pre-clinical readiness was 5.92 to 5.65 on a scale of 1 to 7. Among which; willingness, professionalism, and personal attributes; had been reported as the most important pre-clinical readiness requirements for nursing students. Significant relationships between each of years of experience in teaching, academic position and perceived importance of students’ communication and interaction as a prior factor affecting students’ clinical success. Perception of knowledge and understanding significantly differed among different nursing specialties.
Conclusion: Willingness, professionalism, and personal attributes; had been reported as the most important pre-clinical readiness requirements for nursing students. Consequently, it is recommended that curriculum developers should ensure the development of such traits in students before embarking into their clinical exposure.