Nursing students’ perceptions of the clinical learning environment at a university in South Africa

The clinical learning environment has been found to be significantly related to nursing practice and ultimately patient outcome. However, despondency among nursing students towards the clinical learning environment has been widely reported. This study adopted a quantitative research method that included a descriptive survey design with the aim to examine nursing students’ perceptions of the clinical learning environment. The target study population (N = 498) was comprised of third- and fourth-year undergraduate nursing students at the selected university. The sample (n = 218) was selected through a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using the 42-items Clinical Learning Environment Inventory Tool. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square and independent sample t-test) were used to analyse the data using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 25. Results: The results indicate that student satisfaction within the clinical learning environment is a key contributor to the teaching and learning process. Educators were found to be creating interesting and innovative approaches to teaching and learning; however, clinical learning experiences are still dominated by a rigid learning structure and limited interaction between students and clinical facilitators. Conclusion: The study found that students generally perceive the clinical learning environment as satisfactory, where educators strive to employ interesting and innovative methods to teach nursing students. However, there is a need to include other models of teaching and learning to encourage individualization, innovation, involvement, personalization, and task orientation.