Clinical teachers' experiences on feedback provision during clinical placement: a phenomenological study

Abstract

Purpose: Provision of feedback to nursing and midwifery students is essential in clinical teaching. Feedback helps students to reflect on their performance, feel more confident and competent when conducting procedures and impact their ability to provide high quality care to patients. If feedback is given late, students are prone to repeat mistakes. Anecdotal evidence points out inconsistencies in the way the feedback giving process is conducted among clinical teachers. This study therefore aimed at exploring the clinical teachers’ experiences on feedback provision to nursing and midwifery students during clinical placement in selected nursing training institutions in Northern Malawi. Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative approach utilizing a descriptive phenomenological design. Twenty study participants were conveniently sampled and interviewed from four nursing training institutions and two teaching hospitals in Mzimba North district. Detailed verbal accounts of the participants' experiences and practices were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed manually using thematic analysis. Findings: Analysis of the data revealed three themes namely; (1) feedback improves performance, (2) giving feedback is challenging, (3) perceived solution to challenges. Discussion: Feedback should be viewed as an ongoing process of continual improvement that necessitates commitment from both students and teachers, as well as training facilities and teaching hospitals. Conclusion: Clinical teachers recognized feedback as crucial to student learning and career growth. The diverse experiences among clinical teachers have shown that feedback improves performance, but others have acknowledged facing challenges such as limited time and lack of formal orientation among others. However, many expressed a willingness to improve their feedback practices. The study recommends that all clinical teachers use standardized guidelines, receive appropriate orientation and continuous training on the feedback process.