Factors influencing nursing student satisfaction in aged care placements: An Australian cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim

This study aimed to investigate factors influencing nursing students’ satisfaction with aged care placements.

Background

Providing positive clinical experiences in aged care is crucial for students to learn safe, quality care and to foster a sustainable workforce.

Design

Cross-sectional study

Methods

Nursing students in nursing degrees participated in the national placement evaluation survey. A total of 2378 responses were extracted from the national clinical placement evaluation survey in 2023. Using multinomial logistic regression, demographics, academic, placement characteristics and placement education quality (clinical environment and learning support) were investigated in relation to three different levels of students' overall satisfaction (low, moderate, high).

Results

Students reported overall satisfaction with their clinical placement, with a mean score of 7.9 (SD=2.1) on a 10-point scale. While most students agreed that they had achieved their learning objectives (90.0 %), they reported limited opportunities to interact with the multidisciplinary team (80.0 %). Further, students reported a relatively negative experience with staff, such as willingness to work with students (78.9 %) and being positive role models (78.9 %). Comparing the low satisfaction group to the moderate satisfaction group, male gender, identifying as an indigenous student and higher academic years increased the odds of being ‘least satisfied’, whereas international students, whose first language was not English and those with higher perceived placement education quality scores had lower odds of low satisfaction group membership. Conversely, compared with the moderate satisfaction group, those with the highest satisfaction with their clinical placement had a greater odds of being older, an international student and having higher scores in placement quality for the clinical environment and learning support. This model predicted 58.7 % of students' overall satisfaction.

Conclusions

Positive learning experiences in aged care may promote the importance of practice in this area to new graduates. Despite students’ overall positive satisfaction with aged care placements, it is clear there are areas to address: a need to develop a structured approach to enhance aged care clinical experiences, progressive development of learning objectives, enhancing student career preparation and increasing participation in interprofessional collaboration may be useful approaches.