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Aims and Objectives: To describe the phenomenon of final assessment of the clinical practice of nursing students and to examine whether there were differences in assessments by the students and their teachers and mentors., Background: Final assessment of students in clinical practice during their education has great importance for ensuring that enough high-quality nursing students are trained, as assessment tasks affect what the nursing student learns during the clinical practice., Design: This study used descriptive, cross-sectional design., Methods: The population of this study comprised nursing students (n = 276) and their teachers (n = 108) in five universities of applied sciences in Finland as well as mentors (n = 225) who came from five partner hospitals. A questionnaire developed for this study contained questions about background variables as well as structured questions scored on a four-point scale, which also allowed the respondents to provide additional comments., Results: When comparing the results related to nursing teachers' presence in the final assessment situation, it was found that teachers and mentors evaluated this as being carried out more often than nursing students suggested. Nursing students noted that fair and consistent assessment is carried out more often than nursing teachers thought. Mentors and teachers said that honest and direct criteria-based final assessment was carried out more often than nursing students evaluated., Conclusions: Nursing students and mentors need support from educational institutions and from nursing teachers in order to ensure the completion of a relevant assessment process., Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings of this study highlight an awareness of final assessment process. It is desirable to have a common understanding, for example, of how the assessment should be managed and what the assessment criteria are, as this will ensure a good quality process., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Assessment received by students affects the way that they conduct their studies and shapes their interests in clinical placements. It is therefore important that mentors and teachers have high quality assessment strategies to ensure the competence of nursing students., Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the views and experiences of nursing students, nursing teachers, and mentors on the final assessment of nursing students in clinical practice. The study also investigates respondents' views on using a standardized national or European scheme for clinical assessment in the future., Design: Descriptive survey design with a questionnaire., Settings: Implemented in five Finnish universities of applied sciences and in five partner hospitals., Participants: Nursing students (n=276), nursing teachers (n=108) and mentors (n=225)., Methods: A questionnaire was used to collect data. Survey data were analyzed by using SPSS version 19. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulations were used to characterize the data., Results: Nursing students felt that they had spent enough time with their mentors during their clinical practice period to ensure that the mentors could assess their behavior. Mentors also evaluated that they had spent enough time with the students. Students and mentors both indicated occasional difficulties with the language used in the competence assessment document. Most of the nursing students and mentors shared the view that it is always necessary for a teacher to be involved in the final assessment discussion., Conclusions: The study highlights the importance of assessment skills of mentors and the important role of the teachers. Findings from this study indicate that nursing students' clinical practice assessment already includes many good practices, but we still have some difficulties in ensuring effective measures of competence., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: The effective mentorship of nursing students requires that mentors have a range of personal qualities. However, it is also essential to consider the role of other participants, such as colleagues in placement settings and educators in educational institutions, as well as the relationship with students., Objective: This aim of this study was to describe Finnish and British mentors' (n=39) conceptions of the factors that affect the provision of effective mentorship for pre-registration nursing students in healthcare placements., Design and Methods: The data in this qualitative study were collected by focus group interviews and analysed using a phenomenographical approach., Results: The findings highlighted the factors governing seamless and committed collaboration with all stakeholders involved in student mentorship. Mentors considered that their own advantageous attitude, capabilities and competence, supportive co-operation with colleagues and lecturers, and enthusiasm and active participation of students were all significant factors determining the effectiveness of student mentorship., Conclusions: Nursing organisations and educational units need to develop a well-defined and robust partnership strategy for student mentorship, which would clarify the roles of all stakeholders. This would help to ensure the availability and quality of students' placement learning and mentorship, and develop the joint preparation programmes for student mentorship., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pre-registration nursing students require varying levels of support during placement learning. Although they receive support from different stakeholders, the support provided by mentors is considered the most significant. Several challenges are encountered in the facilitation of students in placements, particularly in relation to mentors' roles in support and assessment. This phenomenographical study examines the conceptions of Finnish and British mentors regarding the facilitation of placement learning and professional development of pre-registration nursing students. The findings identified four main categories of description, which grouped the different ways mentors experienced the facilitation of students. Firstly, students should be the focus and respected as individual partners with personal learning goals. Secondly, placements must be fit for students' practice and learning. Thirdly, facilitation was seen as guided co-working and spurring to enable a student to attain stipulated nursing competencies. Finally, ongoing assessment of students' achievements, learning outcomes and professional attributes was viewed as significant. This study highlights the importance of human and pedagogical approaches in the facilitation of students' placement learning and professional development. Hence, mentors are required to have effective communication and evaluation skills, and should therefore be supported through mandatory mentor preparation programmes and updates developed in national and cross-cultural co-operation., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Health-care organizations have a key role in improving the quality of student mentorship in placements. This study presents the findings of Finnish and British mentors' conceptions of how to build organizational capacity for the provision of effective mentorship for pre-registration nursing students during placement learning. The data obtained from nine semistructured focus group interviews were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach. Three categories of description are presented. Organizations were mainly perceived as optimizers of investments in developing clear strategies for the provision of sufficient resources and professional support for mentors. The creation of a positive mentorship culture within a development-oriented, student-centred and goal-directive atmosphere was seen as essential. Furthermore, providing well-prepared placements for clinical practice of students was emerged as crucial, which included adequate working conditions and stakeholders as well as arrangements of learning opportunities. It is concluded that effective student mentorship requires health-care organizations to invest in financial and human resources in order to promote the quality of the placement learning environments. Such provision will enhance students' recruitment, retention and effectiveness, leading to safe practice and cost-benefits for health-care organizations in the longer term., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Aim and Objective: This systematic review describes mentoring of nursing students in clinical placements., Background: Mentoring in nursing has been widely investigated, but mentoring among students has remained vague. There is no universal agreement on student mentoring in nursing placements; therefore, mentoring approaches vary. A unified description of student mentoring is needed to ensure the quality of placement learning in nursing organisations., Design: Systematic review., Method: The data were collected from nursing research articles over 20 years (1986-2006). The articles (n = 23) were analysed using inductive content analysis., Results: Mentoring of nursing students in clinical placements was described according to two themes: (1) facilitating nursing students' learning by creating supportive learning environments and enabling students' individual learning processes, (2) strengthening students' professionalism by empowering the development of their professional attributes and identities and enhancing attainment of students' professional competence in nursing., Discussion: This description of student mentoring in nursing clinical placements integrates environmental, collegial, pedagogical and clinical attributes. To ensure effective student mentoring, an individual mutual relationship is important, but also essential is organisation and management to provide adequate resources and systematic preparation for mentors., Conclusions: The description of student mentoring needs to be systematically reviewed to reflect changes in nursing and education and compared within related concepts to achieve and maintain a workable description. A clear and systematic strategy for student mentoring in nursing organisations could be one opportunity to enhance recruitment of nursing students to the workforce., Relevance to Clinical Practice: A unified description of student mentoring will help improve the quality of placement learning opportunities and support for students, also for exchange students. A clear description of student mentoring enables the development of systematic provisions for mentoring of nursing students in placements and adequate mentor preparation programmes for nurses., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

This article reports a study of Finnish preceptors' and British undergraduate nursing students' mentor-student relationship during international placement in Finland from the mentors' perspective. The study aimed to explore the characteristics of intercultural mentorship and the strategies used by the mentors to improve the students' intercultural competence. Altogether 23 mentors and five students participated in this study. The data consisted of mentoring session observations, group interviews and research diary notes. Intercultural mentorship was characterised by concern about the students' adjustment, pervasiveness of the relationship, sense of mutual learning, inadequate school-placement co-operation and concern about learning outcomes. The mentors used a variety of strategies to improve the students' intercultural competence. Mentorship was both a rewarding and a frustrating experience.