Challenges in the Clinical Environment: The Saudi Student Nurses’ Experience

Table 2

Clinical challenges experienced by the Saudi nursing students.

	Weighted mean	Descriptive meaning
(A) Insufficient competence
(1) Difficulty in planning care for patient	1.76	Occasionally
(2) Inadequate preparation for clinical exposure	2.02	Occasionally
(3) Lack of basic knowledge and skills to carryout common procedures	1.63	Occasionally
(4) Difficulty in interacting with clients and other health workers	1.61	Occasionally
(5) Ïnefficiency in teaching-learning process regarding the acquisition of knowledge and practical skills	1.75	Occasionally
(6) Inappropriate approach in using instructional strategies	1.59	Rarely
(7) Noncompliance to the standards of caring principles	1.57	Rarely
(8) Failure in translating theory into practice	1.80	Occasionally
(9) Health care services are not systematic and scientific	1.53	Rarely
Overall rating	1.69	Occasionally
(B) Ambiguous evaluation
(1) Lack of sufficient reliability of clinical evaluation	1.94	Occasionally
(2) Unsatisfactory clinical supervision and monitoring	1.93	Occasionally
(3) Evaluation is not specific and objective	1.81	Occasionally
(4) The criteria indicated in the evaluation tool are not applicable	1.92	Occasionally
(5) Too many requirements to submit	2.25	Occasionally
(6) Examination given is not relevant to the clinical concepts	1.99	Occasionally
Overall rating	1.97	Occasionally
(C) Unsupportive learning environment	Weighted mean	Descriptive meaning
(1) Behavioral and verbal violence of the health team	1.43	Rarely
(2) Students and instructors do not accept criticism	1.74	Occasionally
(3) Unprofessional behaviors of the nurses at the bedside	1.61	Occasionally
(4) Lack of opportunity to experience and perform the technique and operational procedures	2.14	Occasionally
(5) Daily routine functions without application of the learned theories	2.22	Occasionally
(6) Varied training cases in the ward	2.05	Occasionally
(7) Lack of cooperation and distrust of clinical nurses with students	2.12	Occasionally
(8) Patients and significant others are uncooperative	1.71	Occasionally
(9) Unclear school policies and regulations	1.79	Occasionally
(10) Inadequate support from college/administration	1.91	Occasionally
Overall	1.87	Occasionally

Mean range: 0.00–0.79 (never), 0.80–1.59 (rarely), 1.60–2.39 (occasionally), 2.40–3.19 (frequently), and 3.20–4.00 (always).