Nursing students experiences of providing care during a pediatric practicum

6^th World Nursing and Healthcare Conference

August 15-17, 2016 London, UK

Hwey-Fang Liang

Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Background: Pediatric practicum is an essential course for nursing students. Thus, pediatric clinical practice can be highly stressful for nursing students and it might affect their subsequent professional development. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of nursing students� providing care during a pediatric practicum. Method: Qualitative research method was applied for this study. A semi-structured interview guide was used to interview 20 participant nursing students who had completed a pediatric nursing practicum in their junior-year at a university in the southern area of Taiwan. The verbal and non-verbal behaviors expressed by the students during interviews were, then, audiotaped and recorded during narrative process. Following, the collecting data was systematically analyzed and categorized. Results: The results show that experiences of the students can be categorized as the following: 1) developing proper relationship with children and their families (appropriate communication with children and families, being seen as a friend with child, rather than being treated as a nursing staff); 2) developing appropriate care strategies for different age level of children (using creative therapeutic play); 3) taking a good look at children�s interests and following with child care theories (children�s favorite television program, nursery rhymes, and cartoons; learning child development theories to promote children�s physical, and psycho-social status; and knowledge of childhood disease); 4) gentle and calm to cope with uncertainties during clinical practice situation. The roles expressed by these students can be categorized as follows: being a friend, a teacher, a brother or a sister. Conclusion: The result of this study can be used as references for guiding students during first stage of pediatric nursing clinical practice.

Biography :

Hwey-Fang Liang has completed her Ph.D. at the age of 38 years from Duquesne University School of Nursing in USA. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing in Chang Gung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. She has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals with English and Chinese.

Email: hfliang@gw.cgust.edu.tw