S4: Skill Lab Manual

The clinical Practicum manual is a document designed to provide guidance for
the associate nurse student running program to determine the level of clinical
attachment by year throughout the program.

Clinical placement provides an important opportunity for associate nurse students
to apply skills and theory in real life situation in a variety of clinical settings.
Experiencing nursing in different types of health care environments is important for
professional growth and development. It enables students to gain competence of
many various skills required across various health care settings

The placements will be conducted on a daily basis and they are organized at the
level of community, health center or hospital depending on the clinical objectives.
The goal of the clinical placement is to provide each student with the experience,
clinical skills and attitude in line with theoretical package acquired in class. Clinical
practice for Nursing profession involves both theory and clinical practice which is an
important component required to help students translate theory into practices by any
student undergoing training. It involves the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor
domains. The students will be supported by a teacher from the teaching institution
who supervises and assists in meeting the clinical learning and assessment needs.
The teachers will be supported by the mentors at the health facility settings.

This manual provides hints on clinical practice for students to further equip them and
to provide effective quality basic nursing care for clients at all levels of health care
settings. It will guide teachers and students in a variety of settings to provide quality
and efficient client care. It will also be a resource in coaching and mentoring student
to build their competence and confidence in client care. The manual will provide
clearly defined roles and expectations of each party during clinical experiences.
Students will be able to cultivate their critical thinking, clinical reasoning, interpersonal
communication and interprofessional collaborative competencies.

The incorporation of this manual into the clinical setting will facilitate a successful
placement by providing students with the resources they need to engage with the
community members, healthcare team, clients, and their families fully and safely.
During clinical practice, clinical facilitators and students are all involved in clinical
placement activities and assignments.

1.1 Purpose of the clinical placement

The aim of this clinical module is to provide a clear and comprehensive document
that outlines the start to end process and guidelines which govern the clinical
placement for associate nurse students. Clinical teaching is a core component of

nursing education.

The clinical teachers’ roles and responsibilities are to supervise and coordinate
clinical activities in order to empower students to gain clinical competence in terms
of knowledge, skills and attitude as well as confidence in all acts.

1.2 Structure of clinical placement

The clinical placement aims to introduce students to the clinical and practical
sessions expected of them as professional associate nurses. It introduces students
to maternal, health, medical and surgical conditions which require optimal theoretical
package of nursing care in their theoretical courses. The clinical practice goes
beyond the health care setting and extends to the community setting to familiarize
themselves with the environment where individuals and families live as well as
identifying their problems and seeking interventions. The competence students
will gain in this clinical practice will enable them to carefully and professionally
implement relevant nursing care and community interventions based on the needs
of individuals, families and communities.

The clinical placement starts in senior four (4) where students need to integrate
theory into practice. The placement is organized in six (6) periods per week and
each period takes 40 minutes per day totaling to four (4) hours in week while the
year is composed of three (3) trimesters.

In senior five (5), the clinical placement is organized in seven (7) periods per week
while in senior six (6) it is organized in 10 periods. Like in senior four, each period
takes 40 minutes per day in week. Every year is composed of three (3) trimesters.