Providing effective feedback to students is very important to enhance the availability of supportive internship environments

In this week’s blog, Karen Patrick, Registered Pediatric Nurse, Lecturer in Nursing (Child), Master of Health Studies, FHEA, reflects on her experiences talking to students about what is very important to them by way of effective feedback. @karen_pattrick

All feedback provided within the practice environment must be positive and constructive. Nursing students need opportunities to hunt clarity about areas requiring development in a supportive learning environment and in an environment of trust in skilled relationships between assessors, supervisors, and students.

Nursing and Midwifery Council¹ states that nurses should have the option to offer honest and accurate feedback to their colleagues, including nursing students, to assist them develop skilled competence and self-confidence. Timely and constructive feedback is recognized to enhance students’ experiences and is related to achievement and increased self-confidence^2.3. However, it’s complex and requires compassion, insight and a respectful relationship with the evaluator⁴. The following identified areas are based by myself work with students and narratives of their experiences. Students provided examples of poorly delivered feedback or an absence of constructive feedback. This has a negative impact on the educational process and will prevent nursing students from reaching their full potential.

Students is not going to all the time have the knowledge, skills and insight to know when to hunt constructive feedback, and can likely depend on practice or supervisors to discover opportunities. When the assessor or supervisor asked for or offered feedback, it was not all the time situation-specific, clearly expressed or presented by way of skills or behaviors. This lack of transparency often creates more confusion³. Students said this creates unnecessary barriers to learning that must be overcome and so they feel they need to “Jumping through hoops” to learn.

Nursing students expect and welcome constructive feedback¹ and this should be provided at regular intervals throughout the internship. Nursing students noticed that even halfway through the interviews, it was often too late to dispel any doubts of the evaluator or supervisor. However, practice evaluators and supervisors could also be concerned that providing constructive feedback may impact the nurse-student relationship. One student’s opinion was as follows “I don’t need them to be my friend, I need them to teach me!”

Students stated that a standard location was to offer this within the department. Repeatedly receiving constructive feedback in an area where the coed can be required to perform assessed clinical activities, equivalent to calculating medications and preparing medications, may create negative associations upon entering the classroom. This may increase students’ anxiety and affect their self-confidence and talent to display competence on this area.

The students I talk over with highlight these three key areas and supply examples of the importance of constructive feedback. They offer assessors and supervisors a novel insight, making it easier to offer a supportive internship environment. This facilitates the educational process and supports the event, skilled competence and self-confidence of nursing students.

1. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2018) Code. Available o https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/read-the-code-online/
2. Plakht, Y., Shiyovich, A., Nusbaum, L. and Raizer, H. (2013) The association of positive and negative feedback with clinical performance, self-esteem and contribution to practice in nursing students. Nurse education today, 33 (10) 1264-1268.
3. Sultan, B. and Gideon, V. (2021). A bachelor’s degree in nursing students’ perceptions of teacher feedback.Journal of Nursing Education, 60(10), 577-581.
4. Adamson E, King L, Foy L, McLeod M, Traynor J, Watson W, Gray M. (2018). Feedback in clinical practice: Enhancing student experiences through motion research. Nurse education in practice. 31 48-53.

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