# Limited resources in clinical facilities: Experiences of nursing students during placements

## TL;DR

Nursing students face significant challenges during clinical placements in under-resourced healthcare facilities, which affects their learning and future practice.

## Contribution

This study highlights the impact of limited resources on nursing students' clinical learning and supervision in real-world healthcare settings.

## Key findings

- Limited staff and resources led to poor supervision and students being used as labor rather than learners.
- Insufficient resources caused a disconnect between theory and practice, leading to flawed procedures.
- Students' learning experiences were negatively affected, potentially impacting future nursing practice.

## Abstract

Students need resources in the clinical areas to integrate theory and practice. When healthcare facilities have limited resources, students encounter momentous challenges that negatively affect their learning and supervision.

To explore the experiences of nursing students during placements in limited-resourced clinical facilities.

A qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was used. The setting was four hospitals, where students were placed for clinical experience. The population was nursing students in the third and fourth levels of their study who were sampled purposively. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews and analysed using a coding method. Thematic analysis was done.

Limited staff led to poor student supervision and evaluation and absenteeism, and students were used as the working force, whereas limited resources led to the disintegration of theory and practice and procedures flawed.

Resources in healthcare facilities are significant in student supervision. Therefore, the management in those facilities needs to ensure that the resources are always available.

The study contributes to bringing to light how the limited resources impact students’ learning and how this can impact future nursing practice.