Abstract
Background: Nursing students undertaking a Bachelor of Nursing degree in New Zealand are required to participate in a minimum of 1100 hours of clinical practice, and this should be a mixture of chronic, acute and community placements (Nursing Council New Zealand, 2021). This requirement includes residential aged care facilities, with many Bachelors of Nursing students experiencing a placement in aged care in their first year of education (Laugaland et al, 2021; McGrath, 2016; Spence, 2019). However, clinical placements in residential aged care facilities can occur at any stage, with some for some students more than once (McGrath, 2016). First year students have reported elevated levels of fear and anxiety due to the unknown and inexperience working with older adults (Dahlke et al, 2020), whereas second and final year students perceive clinical placements in residential aged care facilities provide little in the way of clinical learning opportunities. (Keeping-Burke et al, 2020).
Aim: The aim of this study was to review literature comparing the experiences of first and final year students on clinical placement in aged care facilities and determine where the aged care nursing placement best sits within the New Zealand undergraduate nursing curriculum.
Method: An Integrative review was undertaken, examining, articles, published in the last 10 years. Analysis was completed following the Whittemore and Knafl (2005) process and using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-step thematic framework.
Results: Four key themes emerged: 1: Socio-political and cultural influences. 2: Clinical placement issues: student expression of preference for clinical placement. 3: Clinical learning environment. 4: The role of the education providers.
Conclusion: Residential aged care facilities can provide high quality clinical placements for undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing Students of any level, so long, as they meet the curricular requirements and students learning needs.