[Nursing students' satisfaction and perception of their first clinical placement: observational study].
BACKGROUND
Clinical learning environments are defined as an interactive network of forces within the clinical context that influence students' learning outcomes. Nursing students' satisfaction could be strictly related to their learning outcomes. Aim. To analyze the first year nursing students' clinical learning experience and to identify the main determinants of students' satisfaction.


METHODS
The observational study was carried out in five Italian nursing degree courses. 420 students filled out the validated Italian version of the "Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision plus Nurse Teacher (CLES+T) scale" after the conclusion of their first clinical placement.


RESULTS
The mean values of the main sub-dimensions of CLES+T varied from 4.02 (pedagogical atmosphere) to 3.30 (supervisory relationship). Students were mainly satisfied with their clinical placement, however the findings showed statistical significantly differences among the five nursing courses.


CONCLUSIONS
The main determinants of the overall students' satisfaction are the nurse manager's leadership style and the integration between theoretical knowledge and everyday practice of nursing through the relationship among students, clinical tutors and nurse teacher.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results may contribute to better understand nursing students' perception of their first clinical placement. However, further research are needed to evaluate which organizational factors and clinical training models may enhance the clinical learning experience.
1 Dottoranda - Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università G. d'Annunzio, Chieti-Pescara. Corrispondence: dania.comparcini@unich.it, da.comparcini@gmail.com.
Dania
D
Comparcini
Valentina
V
Simonetti
Marco
M
Tomietto
Francesco
F
Galli
Catia
C
Fiorani
Luisa
L
Di Labio
Giancarlo
G
Cicolini
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult