Other Titles
PechaKucha Presentation
Abstract
Background: Establishing a welcoming clinical learning environment for nursing students is important as it has been shown to positively impact student learning, sense of security and belonging, recruitment, and development of professional caring behaviors. The first clinical day is often riddled with anxiety for nursing students. Clinical units today have higher acuity patients, staff nurses with fewer years of experience, and rapid adoption of new technologies and processes when compared to the past. These factors necessitate a renewed approach to how nursing students are introduced to clinical care. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to explore the impact of a structured and intentional “Warm Welcome” intervention on student sense of welcome, belonging, and confidence during their first inpatient nursing clinical.
Methods: The Warm Welcome program was developed as a partnership between the Department of Nursing and Volunteer Services at a large, prominent, tertiary hospital in the Midwestern United States. The Warm Welcome was piloted on 8 inpatient acute care units in partnership with three Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs and two Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs. The Warm Welcome utilized a “3T” approach to welcoming and orienting students to the clinical environment with a welcoming emphasis on Tour, Talk, and Touch. Students arriving for their first clinical day received a warm welcome presentation followed by a comprehensive Tour, communication encounter with a patient (Talk), and direct care (Touch) encounter involving the administration of a hand massage.
Results: Prelicensure nursing students engaging in the Warm Welcome intervention provided feedback via an anonymous electronic survey during the second week of their clinical experience. Survey questions were designed to measure student sense of welcome, sense of belonging, confidence with patient communication and delivery of direct hands-on care. Results are pending with an anticipated completion date of January 2025.
Conclusions: The Warm Welcome intervention demonstrates a commitment to developing a welcoming clinical learning environment for nursing students and demonstrates innovation through its partnership with volunteer services and development of the 3T approach to orientation. Survey results will inform continuous quality improvement efforts and expansion efforts related to this work.
Notes
References: Cant, R., Ryan, C., Hughes, L., Luders, E., & Cooper, S. (2021). What helps, what hinders? Undergraduate nursing students’ perceptions of clinical placements based on a thematic synthesis of literature. SAGE Open Nursing, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608211035845
DeWitty, V.P. & Byrd, D.A. (2021). Recruiting underrepresented students for nursing schools. Creative Nursing, 27 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/CRNR-D-20-00069
Flott, E. A., & Linden, L. (2016). The clinical learning environment in nursing education: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(3). Doi: 10.1111/jan.12861.
Inocian, E. P., Hill, M. B., Felicilda-Reynaldo, R. F. D., Kelly, S. H., Paragas, E. D., & Turk, M. T. (2022). Factors in the clinical learning environment that influence caring behaviors of undergraduate nursing students: An integrative review. Nurse Education in Practice, 63. Doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103391
Laugaland, K., Kaldestad, K., Espeland, E., McCormack, B., Akerjordet, K., & Aase, I. (2021). Nursing students’ experience with clinical placement in nursing homes: a focus group study. BMC Nursing, 20 (159). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00690-4
Owens, R. A., Moulton Burwell, P., Deese, S., & Petros, T. (2021). Graduating nursing student and practicing nurse perceptions on promoting recruitment, work satisfaction, and intent to stay: A qualitative study. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 11(4), 41-50. Doi: 10.1016/S2155-8256(20)30177-0.
Subke, J., Downing, C., & Kearns, I. (2020). Practices of caring for nursing students: A clinical learning environment. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 7, 214-219. Doi: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2020.03.005
Sigma Membership
Kappa Mu
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Academic-Clinical Partnership, Teaching and Learning Strategies, Stress and Coping
Recommended Citation
Gangeness, Jeanine E.; Heim, Sarah; and Benike, Linnea, "A Warm Welcome: Creating a Welcoming Environment for Nursing Student Clinicals Using a 3T Approach" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 65.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/65
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
A Warm Welcome: Creating a Welcoming Environment for Nursing Student Clinicals Using a 3T Approach
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Background: Establishing a welcoming clinical learning environment for nursing students is important as it has been shown to positively impact student learning, sense of security and belonging, recruitment, and development of professional caring behaviors. The first clinical day is often riddled with anxiety for nursing students. Clinical units today have higher acuity patients, staff nurses with fewer years of experience, and rapid adoption of new technologies and processes when compared to the past. These factors necessitate a renewed approach to how nursing students are introduced to clinical care. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to explore the impact of a structured and intentional “Warm Welcome” intervention on student sense of welcome, belonging, and confidence during their first inpatient nursing clinical.
Methods: The Warm Welcome program was developed as a partnership between the Department of Nursing and Volunteer Services at a large, prominent, tertiary hospital in the Midwestern United States. The Warm Welcome was piloted on 8 inpatient acute care units in partnership with three Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs and two Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs. The Warm Welcome utilized a “3T” approach to welcoming and orienting students to the clinical environment with a welcoming emphasis on Tour, Talk, and Touch. Students arriving for their first clinical day received a warm welcome presentation followed by a comprehensive Tour, communication encounter with a patient (Talk), and direct care (Touch) encounter involving the administration of a hand massage.
Results: Prelicensure nursing students engaging in the Warm Welcome intervention provided feedback via an anonymous electronic survey during the second week of their clinical experience. Survey questions were designed to measure student sense of welcome, sense of belonging, confidence with patient communication and delivery of direct hands-on care. Results are pending with an anticipated completion date of January 2025.
Conclusions: The Warm Welcome intervention demonstrates a commitment to developing a welcoming clinical learning environment for nursing students and demonstrates innovation through its partnership with volunteer services and development of the 3T approach to orientation. Survey results will inform continuous quality improvement efforts and expansion efforts related to this work.
Description
The Warm Welcome is aimed at developing an improved sense of belonging, increased confidence with patient communication, increased confidence with physical touch, and improved knowledge of the unit among participating students, compared to nursing students who were not warm welcome participants. Survey results are pending with an anticipated completion date of January 2025.