Nursing students' evaluation of clinical practice placements using the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher scale - A systematic review

Objectives To review undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of the quality of their clinical placement experiences by means of surveys conducted using the Clinical Learning Environment Supervision and Nurse Teacher questionnaire. Design Systematic review of English language studies published between 2014 and 2020, in any clinical setting, utilising data collected in the decade 2010 to 2020. Data sources Structured searches were conducted in CinahlPlus, Ovid Medline, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar. Review methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framed the review. Results A total of 111 records were screened, after which 21 studies met criteria for inclusion. Studies were centred on students in Sweden and in 15 other countries. Students' ratings of ‘Experience’ were positive across five scale subdimensions with means 3.0–3.95 of a possible 5 (overall mean 75.4%). ‘Satisfaction’ across seven studies was rated highly (mean 4.16 of 5) 83.2% agreement. The highest rated subdimension was Supervisory relationship, with the Role of the Nurse Teacher rated lower and inconsistently. The underlying elements are discussed. Conclusion Although students' Experience and Satisfaction were rated highly averaging over 75%, there is still room for improvement. Further research is needed to examine how students perceive various components of ‘satisfaction’ within clinical learning environments because this can be seen as the primary measure of program quality. Research using experimental and observational study designs is needed to compare ways of preparing clinical teachers and reporting measurable learning outcomes for models of supervision that are applicable in varied clinical learning environments.