Exploring undergraduate nursing students’ experiences of their first clinical placement in an acute adult mental health inpatient service

Mental health nurses are vital to the mental health and addiction workforce. However, there are significant workforce challenges facing mental health nursing. With an aging workforce, increasing demand for mental health and addiction services and relatively few new graduates choosing mental health as a career the current shortage of mental health nurses is going to become more acute. One of the main impediments in recruitment to mental health nursing is that undergraduate nursing students do not see mental health nursing as a desirable career choice. Undergraduate nursing programmes provide opportunities to influence nursing students’ attitudes with positive clinical experiences in mental health being identified as having a significant impact on nursing students’ attitudes to people with mental illness and mental health nursing as a career. This small study seeks to develop a better understanding of the undergraduate nursing students’ experience of their clinical placement in mental health and identify the influences on student learning in an acute adult mental health service. This qualitative study was undertaken at one educational institution in New Zealand. A cohort of thirteen nursing students participated in this study. A process of thematic analysis was used to analyse students’ reflections on practice. Exploring the lived experiences of nursing students through their written reflections on practice offered important insights into the student experience of their first mental health clinical placement. From the analysis six themes emerged: The Unknown; Connecting; Relationships with staff; Questioning; Understanding; and Vulnerability. These themes allowed for a more meaningful understanding of the student experience of their clinical placement and the factors which influence this experience. This study provides educators and clinical staff with valuable information which can be used to develop innovative and positive clinical experiences for nursing students. With the ultimate goal being to develop caring, empathetic nurses who see mental health and addiction nursing as a dynamic and rewarding career option