Clinical placements play an important role in learning a new profession, but students report about poor placement experiences. Standards have been laid down for improvements within clinical training in Prehospital Emergency Nursing programmes in Sweden, but no studies have been carried out in this field in a Swedish context. The purpose of this study was thus to describe the experiences of Prehospital Emergency Nursing (PEN) students of their clinical placement and the effect on their learning process. Data were collected in 28 individual interviews and analyzed in accordance with Flanagan’s Critical Incident Technique. Three main areas emerged: the professional clinical supervisor, the clinical placement setting and the learning strategy. All these areas played a significant role in the PEN students’ learning progress and development into a new professional role. The choice of clinical supervisor (CS) and clinical placement is important if PEN students’ learning is to be an effective and positive experience. The prehospital environment is unique and can have positive and negative effects on student learning depending on the support and structure given during their clinical placement. A learning strategy based on reflective dialogue, CS continuity and a learning structure based on the prehospital environment is presented.

Background

Clinical placements play a central part in the education of future emergency medical services (EMS) staff and their development of clinical skills and competence. A key aspect of students' integration of theory and praxis and development into an independent clinician is a supportive mentorship with the preceptor. However, students report barriers for learning within the EMS, while the preceptors' experiences of their role have received scant attention in research.

Objectives

To describe preceptors' experiences of student supervision in the EMS during clinical placements.

Design

A descriptive qualitative design was used.

Participants and setting

Twenty specialist nurses were recruited among EMS staff from all parts of Sweden.

Methods

Data were collected using individual interviews and analyzed with latent qualitative content analysis.

Findings

EMS preceptors develop a competence in combining caring and learning adapted to individual student needs when facing students with varying needs in an ever-changing healthcare setting. A trustful relationship between student and preceptor is fundamental when coping with a dual responsibility for student and patient needs. However, several aspects in the EMS setting hinders the preceptors' ability to support the development of the students' independence. Surrounding support structures are important if the preceptors are to feel safe and secure in their role as assessor, teacher and ambulance nurse.

Conclusions

Preceptors need to develop a didactic flexibility through preceptor courses adapted to the complex premises found in the EMS. Ambulance services and universities should recognize the importance of preceptors´ colleagues, student continuity, university support and cooperation for improving quality and clarity in supervision during clinical placements.

Ambulance service organizations worldwide report about an expanding professional role, responsibilities and scope of practice for ambulance clinicians, resulting in discussions concerning educational design and desired professional competencies. To face the contemporary demands in ambulance care, non-technical skills are advocated and clinical practice considered fundamental for the development of these abilities. However, there is very little research concerning educational strategies for supporting the desired competencies for novice registered nurses in the ambulance service.

Aim: To describe and explore nurse preceptors' experience-based strategies for sup- porting registered nurses learning in the ambulance service.

Design: The study had an inductive and data-driven approach, guided by phenomeno- logical epistemology.

Methods: Twenty-seven Swedish nurse preceptors were interviewed in three focus groups and four dyadic interviews between October 2019 and April 2020. The data were analysed with reflexive thematic analysis.

Findings: The nurse preceptors use several learning strategies, focusing on a socialization process and a clinical competence process, intertwined during clinical practice to support the development of a situated professional identity and a clinical decision-making competence. Supportive structures facilitate a progressive learning strategy when addressing desired skills and cognitive abilities in teamwork processes and clinical judgement.

Conclusion: Supporting novice clinicians, prior to and during clinical practice in the ambulance service, should include medical assessment skills, situation awareness and processes for effective teamwork. Further, novice clinicians need to develop complex cognitive abilities to deal with the dynamic nature of decision-making in ambulance care.

Impact: The study findings show contextual strategies, previously not described and desired competencies when supporting learning for registered nurses in the ambu- lance service. A theoretical grounding in episteme, techne, phronesis and situation awareness may guide educators at universities, managers in the ambulance service, preceptors and novice clinicians worldwide in the planning and performance of teaching and learning in the ambulance service.

ObjectiveTo explore and describe the ways specialist ambulance nursing (SAN) students understand the work in the ambulance service.Design, sample, and measurementsAn explorative descriptive design was carried out through individual interviews with 16 SAN students from all parts of Sweden and analysed in accordance with the phenomenographic tradition.FindingsFive different ways of understanding the work were described and each was assigned a metaphor; The medical role; The practical role; The patient-oriented role; The commanding role; and The comprehensive role. Several aspects concerning personal, organizational, and situational conditions affecting the understanding and the distribution of these roles in the specific care assignment were identified and presented in a hierarchical model of the outcome space.ConclusionsThis study contributes with a new perspective on supporting role clarity for registered nurses (RN) working in the ambulance service (AS). Specialization and experiential learning are needed to support an understanding of all aspects of the work in order to develop a professional competence aligned with the challenges faced in the AS. The development of expertise in the AS needs a contextualized understanding rooted in a theoretical framework that addresses a holistic perspective towards patients’ needs.