Category 3: Practice support

Practice support is the assistance given to nursing students for their practice learning in the simulation laboratory (Simlab) and in the clinical placement areas of various settings such as the hospitals and community facilities. Besides the simulating of clinical procedures, various other skills such as communication, leadership, management and physical care can also be practised in the Simulation-lab (Baillie & Curzio, 2009:297). This teaching method proved effective for the male learners. Two sub-categories emerged, namely: (i) the simulation laboratory and (ii) wards.

Simulation laboratory

The simulation laboratory and the wards formed part of the clinical learning environment for the participants in this study. These were the places where they learned to apply the theory of nursing to the actual practice of nursing. A participant described how he learned to apply theory to practice:

“When we are in the clinical settings now and to actually see the link between what you’re studying and how you must actually execute it now and practice it. For me it’s always the best experience.” (MSN 3)

Billings and Halstead (2009:322-323) describe simulation as an ‘imitation of the real world’ and state that simulations are commonly used to represent reality and as a teaching strategy. This finding is echoed by Baillie and Curzio (2009) who report that student nurses find simulation to be a’ great way to learn skills’ and that it helps to prepare them for the wards.

Wards

The hospital ward was the place where most of the clinical education of the student nurse occurred. The experiential learning that takes place can affect retention of the male student nurse, depending on the type of experience (Eswi & El Sayed, 2011:94) Educational and emotional support from their peers, tutors, mentors and ward staff was valued by participants in this study. The opportunity of running the ward was valued by a participant:

“We were given opportunities to lead, to be in charge of things . . . there was a few staff , so we had to run the ward.” (MSN 2)

Other participants were eager to learn and were excited by learning new things: “I was exposed to so many things already in my first year and now I’m a 3rd year. I’ve learnt so much, doing practical at ***** Hospital.” (MSN 4) “Those are the best experiences for me, especially in the hospitals when they are giving us opportunities there to do certain things; they are putting their trust in us.” (MSN 6)

The ward sister has been described as the ‘architect of nursing work who sets the emotional agenda for the ward’ (Chesser-Smyth, 2005:325).

3.6 CONCLUSION

The peak experiences of the male learner nurses related to self-leadership. This was due  

to the characteristics they demonstrated in response to their learning experiences during their training programme (Theme 1). Self-pride regarding their academic achievements was pervasive throughout the interviews. Participants expressed their feelings of belongingness to the profession and revealed their social and spiritual identities. They also displayed self-leadership traits such as advocacy, altruism and self-motivation. They valued all their practical experiences, both good and bad, using them as learning curves in their professional development.

Participants in this study showed some of the essential attributes for potential leadership such as personal growth and adaptation to difficult situations (Theme 2). They developed self-observation which is a practical strategy of self-leadership. In Theme 3, the future aspirations of the participants were identified as a theme and the categories generated were those of professional aspects, educational aspects and interpersonal leadership. The professional category generated three sub-categories, that of living the profession, being professional and a greater inclusion of males. For the educational category, lifelong learning and completing their studies were identified as sub-categories. Interpersonal leadership category generated two sub-categories, that of leading others and giving back to others.

The fourth theme consisted of the qualities identified by the participants for self- leadership in the attainment of their future aspirations. It was found that various groups of people such as friends, family and educators all offered support and guidance to participants on their educational journey. The fifth theme addressed the value of the programme and three categories were generated by the data. Educational support was valued by participants and the key role players were the lecturers and mentors. The importance of fellow student support was acknowledged by participants. Practice support in the simulation laboratory and the wards was found to be of great importance to participants. Overall, the participants indicated their appreciation for the training programme in a predominantly female environment both at the college and in the clinical areas.

In the next chapter, the conclusions of the study will be discussed, the guidelines will be  

outlined and recommendations for future research, nursing education and practice will be made. The limitations of the study that were encountered by the researcher will also be described.

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS, GUIDELINES,