STUDENT EVALUATION OF CLINICAL EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT

Limiting the number of items while maintaining the discrimination ability and consistency of an
instrument allows for improved efficiency of administration and scoring, and may promote use
of the instrument as a tool in the process of improving the student learning environment. It was
anticipated that students would need approximately ten minutes to complete the inventory, so
that students could easily complete the instrument at the end of a clinical session or during a
session of a theory based course.
Population
The study population for this investigation consisted of nursing students enrolled in
clinical nursing courses in baccalaureate nursing programs. The sample population was taken
from one large mid-Atlantic university (LMA) and two small liberal arts colleges, (one college in
the Mid-Atlantic States [SMA] and one small university in the Midwest [SMW]). The potential
number of student respondents from all institutions was approximately 380. Permission to
conduct the investigation was obtained from each institution prior to administration of the
instrument.
A description of the general nature of student clinical experiences at each university was
obtained from the dean of each school of nursing. Nursing students at all three institutions have
clinical sessions twice per week. The number of hours per week in the clinical setting varied
from 12 to 18, varying more with student level than with institution. Generally, sophomores had
the fewest clinical hours per week (8 – 12) and seniors had the highest number of clinical hours
per week (16 – 18). Nursing programs at LMA and SMW included a staff-precepted student
clinical experience at the senior level in both the community and leadership clinical rotations.
The program at LMA did not include any formally arranged precepted clinical experience for
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