Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the patients' perspectives on nursing students' clinical practices in the wards, and to investigate their willingness for allowing students to practice on them. Methods: This was a descriptive study. 116 inpatients were recruited from the S University Hospital. A 60-item questionnaire was applied to collect the data. The participants were 19 years and older with sound judgement, and were not in special or intensive care units. Data analysis was done in SPSS/WIN 22.0 using descriptive statistics, Fishers exact test, and the ANOVA test. the participant answered to questionnaire from April 29th 2016 to May 10th. Results: 40 participants (34.5%) stated they would allow students' practice, while 72 (61.2%) said they would allow only under staff supervision. 5 participants (4.3%) stated they would not allow whatsoever. The 3 most allowed were emotional support, oral care, and vital signs measurement while the 3 least allowed were gastric feeding, intravenous catheterization, and urinary catheterization. Conclusion: Patients were more inclined to allow students to practice on them when a member of the medical team was present. A fair number of participants said they would be more inclined to allow students' practice if they felt the student was competent; hence, reinforcing simulation sessions is vital in enhancing students' competency and ultimately practice allowance.
