Exploring student nurses’ and their link lecturers’ experiences of reasonable adjustments in clinical placement

Background: student nurses who attend preregistration nursing programmes in the UK are assessed on their academic work and their performance in clinical placement. Some of them require reasonable adjustments to be made in order to support their learning. Although there is national guidance on making reasonable adjustments for academic work, information on this associated with clinical placement is limited. The nursing literature reports varying levels of success in facilitating reasonable adjustments in clinical placement.

Aim: to explore the experiences of student nurses who require reasonable adjustments and their link lecturers associated with the facilitation of this support in clinical placement.

Method: a descriptive phenomenological methodology was adopted. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with seven student nurses and three link lecturers from three fields of nursing (adult, child and mental health). Audiorecorded interview data were transcribed, coded and thematically analysed. Phenomena were identified and discussed, viewed through relevant educational theoretical lenses and in conjunction with nursing research literature.

Findings: three main themes emerged: defining reasonable adjustments, supporting students, and being professional.

Conclusion: all study participants could define reasonable adjustments and described a variety of experiences of these being facilitated in clinical placement. The process could be complex and depended on many factors that could promote or hinder the provision of support.