Determinants of Nursing Students’ Satisfaction with the Clinical Learning Environment in the Kumasi Metropolis

Abstract

The clinical learning environment (CLE) is beneficial to the trainee nurse in acquisition of the requisite skills, attitudes and values for future professional practice. Students’ satisfaction with the CLE makes the student dedicated, motivates them to learn and also prepares them adequately for future professional practice. Satisfaction assessment has been linked with graduate competency and student retention in the nursing programme. Using the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model as a framework, this study offers an in-depth understanding of the elements that bring about nursing students’ satisfaction with the CLE in the Ghanaian context. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Validated data collection instruments were adapted to gather data from a sample of 340 nursing students from three nursing and midwifery training institutions in the Kumasi metropolis in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression were the main statistical tools used in the data analysis. The findings revealed that nursing students are dissatisfied with the clinical learning environment. Positive relationships were found between nursing students’ expectations, students’ perceived performance of the CLE and students’ satisfaction with the CLE. Nursing students’ expectations, learning opportunities and communication/ feedback in the CLE were found to be the main predictors of nursing students’ satisfaction with the CLE. These findings have established the need to improve nursing students’ clinical experiences to enhance professional nursing practice.