An integrative literature review on selecting patient assignments for undergraduate nursing students in the clinical setting.

One of the key functions of a clinical nursing faculty is selecting patient assignments for undergraduate nursing students in the clinical setting. However, there is limited existence of evidence or strong scholarship that informs clinical nursing faculty on this specific process. In particular, they are left wondering regarding the factors, variables and methods that can be considered in this process. Hence, an integrative literature review was conducted that addressed the following questions: What is the current state of evidence and what are the best practices in selecting patient assignments for undergraduate nursing students in the clinical setting? What factors and variables do clinical nursing faculty consider in this process? A total of nine documents and two chapters from clinical nursing education books met the inclusion criteria for this literature review. The factors identified from the literature review considered in the patient selection process were: (a) needs of the patients and their families, (b) nursing students' learning needs and characteristics, (c) course objectives, (d) knowledge of the clinical faculty in clinical teaching, and (e) the learning environment. With respect to the methods of patient selection, three methods were also identified from the literature review: (a) faculty-led, (b) student-directed and (c) shared approach. The findings of this review indicate that further research is needed to better understand other factors and variables that may influence the patient selection process in the clinical learning environment. More qualitative studies are recommended to provide a more in-depth understanding about the processes, relationships, methods, assumptions, biases and behaviors involved regarding this topic in clinical nursing education.