Clinical Experience Proposal Paper

Once you have contacted clinical sites and have a public/community health clinical site willing to serve your needs, you will then complete the Clinical Experience Proposal paper. This assignment should be a brief (suggested length being 1-3 pages maximum) APA professional paper outlining your proposed NURS 450 Public/Community Health Clinical Experience, following the grading rubric included in the NURS 410 syllabus, and found at the end of this document.
Updated 5/12/22
The paper will describe the clinical site, including the location and demographics of the location and population served. This will allow you to appraise your upcoming clinical site.
The paper will also include a description of the appropriateness of the clinical site for you looking for a site with a community/population health focus, as well as application to professional nursing practice. This will allow you to appraise the focus of community/population health nursing in this clinical setting and how professional nurses practice in this setting.
The paper will include a description of the role of the proposed BSN preceptor as a nurse/nurse leader in this setting.
Lastly, the paper will include a description of the value of you as a nursing student having the opportunity to have this experience with a BSN-prepared nurse preceptor in general, and specifically with the proposed preceptor while integrating public health nursing standards of practice.

ANSWER

Clinical Experience Proposal paper

Description of the Clinical Site

The proposed site is Saint Paul Public Schools, which is located in Ramsey County, Minnesota. The school district is culturally diverse with 34, 928 students and 103 schools (St. Paul Public School District, 2020). Approximately 30% of the student population are Asians, 25.4% are Black, 21% are White, 13.8% are Hispanics, and only 1% are American Indians or Alaska Natives. There are 2,309 teachers, making the student-teacher ratio is 1:15(St. Paul Public School District, 2020).  The median household income of the community is $57,876. About 57.9% of the population speak only English, 26.9% are bilingual but speak English well, and only 15.2% have limited English proficiency (St. Paul Public School District, 2020). About 54% of the parents in school are married, 28% are female-led households (husband is absent), 7% are male-led (wife is absent), and 11% of the parents co-habit. About 31% of the parents have a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, 25.1% have an associate degree, 19.5% are high-school graduates, and 23.9% have less than high school education. About 80.5% of the adult population in the community are employed, and only 19.5% are unemployed (St. Paul Public School District, 2020).

Appropriateness of the clinical site

The site has a “Health and Wellness” program designed to provide health education to students to enhance their self-efficacy in managing their own health. The institution has all the right resources to support professional learning because the “Health and Wellness” program has existed in the school for years. I believe I will have the opportunity to work with skilled practitioners in the program, allowing me to obtain valuable clinical knowledge and experience. Additionally, my passion is to work with children, and this site has a large, diverse student population, making it suitable for my professional nursing practice. I intend to work with kindergarten to 12th-grade students. Due to its large student population, I know I will have the opportunity to work with a diverse patient population, increasing my clinical skill set. Most importantly, this site is suitable because my program supervisor offered it as preceptorship guidance. The preceptorship is a learning requirement, explaining why the site is appropriate.

The Roles of BSN Nurse Preceptors

Nurse preceptors help newly-qualified providers to transition from students to autonomous professionals. They teach clinical protocols, foster critical thinking, define learning objectives, and offer feedback to nurture learning (Hong & Yoon, 2021). Preceptors work at the intersection of practice and theory, helping new nurses bridge the gap between knowledge and clinical practice. They help nurses connect theoretical learning and actual clinical practice.

To acquire new skills and information, all new nurses work together with their preceptors. Preceptors are usually well-versed in both the science and the art of instruction (Hong & Yoon, 2021). Preceptors help students learn new skills by coaching them and showing them when and how to apply the new knowledge. The Mastering Precepting: A Nurse’s Handbook for Success listed four important components that help students learn:

• A location set aside solely for educational purposes.
• Visual representations of the information to be learned
• A chance to control own learning pace
• A chance for the student to ponder what they’ve learned thus far

Other responsibilities of the preceptor include creating a suitable learning environment characterized by collaboration and mutual respect. Then they also provide orientation to the clinical site and organizational policies and review learning objectives to identify the opportunities suitable for learners’ needs. They facilitate students’ gradual independence in clinical practice, evaluate and provide feedback, complete the learner’s midterm or final evaluation and verify the student’s clinical hours.

My preceptor will perform the same roles. She will direct my learning objectives of the practicum, teach me how to apply theory into practice, and evaluate and provide feedback in patient care interactions. She will observe my patient interactions and provide recommendations on how to improve my practice and competencies. She will communicate and address any unsafe practice, unethical conduct, or unprofessionalism to ensure adherence to the profession’s standards of practice.

The value of the nursing student having an experience with a BSN preceptor

Being exposed to a BSN-prepared nurse receptor can help students get the best clinical learning outcomes possible. A recent study conducted by Hong and Yoon (2021) shows that effective BSN preceptors can improve job satisfaction, confidence, adjustment, retention rate, and reduce transition shock and stress among novice nurses. Another study conducted by Phuma-Ngaiyaye et al. (2017) demonstrated that preceptors can enhance the learning outcomes of novice nurses due to their openness, friendliness, clinical expertise, and education. In Pneuma-Ngaiyaye et al.’s (2017) study, students reported feeling more supported and guided by nurse preceptors than other healthcare workers. Due to their support, the novice nurses gained superior clinical skills developed.

I believe I will gain the same benefits as my preceptor. She has extensive experience and has worked in the school district for years. Given the size of the school district, I believe she is best suited for my learning needs. Because of these, working with her or any preceptors she assigns to me will yield the best clinical learning outcomes for me.

Preceptor Information

The supervisor of Student Health and Wellness program is a BSN trained preceptor. Her name is Mary Langworthy, M.Ed, BSN, RN, LSN, NCSN. Her phone number is 763-350-6987 while her contact email is mary.langworthy@spps.org.

References

Hong, K. J., & Yoon, H.-J. (2021). Effect of Nurses’ Preceptorship Experience in Educating New Graduate Nurses and Preceptor Training Courses on Clinical Teaching Behavior. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 975. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908293/

Phuma-Ngaiyaye, E., Bvumbwe, T., & Chipeta, M. (2017). Using preceptors to improve nursing students’ clinical learning outcomes: A Malawian students’ perspective. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 4(2), 164-168. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2017.03.001

St. Paul Public School District. (2020). Public School Districts – District Detail for St. Paul Public School District. St. Paul Public School District. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?ID2=2733840

To get your original copy of this completed paper, please Order Now