Introduction

Clinical teaching is a vital component of nursing education. Fostering nursing students’ growth in applying theoretical knowledge and skills to clinical setting is a major task, not only of the nurse’s teachers but also clinical nurses. Registered nurses who work closely with patients on a day-to-day basis and are familiar with the clinical setting have a professional and moral responsibility towards developing the next generation of nurses in Hong Kong. The academic institution and clinical practice setting must work together towards this aim. Research has shown that nursing students learn clinical skills from registered nurses acting as clinical mentors.

Aim

The purpose of clinical practice is for students to apply their knowledge and skills learned from the theoretical courses to nursing practice in hospital and community settings. The amount of clinical experience in each setting is based on the requirements for a competent professional nurse who will be eligible for registration as a nurse by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong.

Clinical Teaching and Learning

Clinical teaching is provided for students within different clinical practice blocks. It is provided by the lecturers of our school or clinical mentors, who are the registered nurses nominated by the accredited clinical units/institutions. The school provides relevant information to both lecturers and clinical mentors prior to their clinical teaching duties. These include information about the programme, the structure and content of the particular clinical practice course, and the principles of clinical teaching and learning. The evaluation of clinical teaching and learning involves a variety of perspectives, which will be contributed by students, lecturers, clinical mentors, hospital staff, and clinical coordinators.

Clinical Competence

Students will be assessed at intervals during clinical practice in order to determine their progress in achieving the desired standard in the competencies relevant to the learning outcomes in each term and year of their programme, and the requirements for a general nurse eligible for registration in the Nursing Council of Hong Kong.

As with the theoretical component of their programme the students are required to obtain a pass in their clinical work. If a student is unable to do so by the end of each clinical practice course, she/he will need to undertake supplementary work and attain a pass in a supplementary assessment.