Second Year Nursing Students’ Experiences of Clinical Placement in a Rural Health Centre

Introduction: In nursing education, it is expected that students take theoretical and practical courses. Practical components are an integral part of learning in nurses’ training, which is effected through placement of students in different clinical settings. In Namibia, hospitals, clinics and health centres are popularly utilized as a clinical environment for placing nursing students at all levels of studies. However, little is known on how students experience the placement at the health centres. In 2016 Nursing students from a satellite campus were placed at a health centre.Methods: The study followed qualitative research principles, and it was explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. Data were collected from reflections submitted by second year nursing students from a UNAM satellite campus upon completion of their two weeks placement at a health centre in 2016. Data were analyzed using content analysis as a data analysis strategy. Trustworthiness of this study was ensured by applying the criteria of Lincoln and Guba, namely: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of the study.Results: The five themes that emerged from the study are: ‘interpersonal factors’, ‘students’ reactions to the learning context’, ‘enablers of students’ learning at a rural health centre’, ‘challenges experienced by students’, and ‘recommendations made by students on learning in a rural health centre’.Conclusion: It is evident that good interpersonal interaction between nursing staff, students and patients appear to have a positive impact on learning. Students reflected on limited supply of equipment, and limited cases available as challenges experienced during their placement. Furthermore, students made suggestions to improve placements in a rural health centre.