Page 1 of 9

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 2

Publication Date: February 25, 2024

DOI:10.14738/assrj.112.16565.

Schembri, N. (2024). Experiences of Undergraduate Nursing Students on Clinical Placement as a Formal Community of Practice.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(2). 496-504.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Experiences of Undergraduate Nursing Students on Clinical

Placement as a Formal Community of Practice

Neville Schembri

Institute of Applied Science,

Malta College of Arts Science and Technology (Malta)

ABSTRACT

Background: Through their academic journey at their academic institutions and

clinical practice placements, nursing students experience mutual engagement, joint

enterprise, and a shared repertoire that marks a community of practice. As a result

of this interaction and activity, students develop an interprofessional identity as

they also become active members of this interprofessional community. Method: A

descriptive qualitative approach was used to study the experience of 12 student

nurses following clinical practice placements. Purposive sampling was adopted

and the data from individual interviews was analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Five themes emerged, namely: Bridging the Theory-Practice Gap, Feeling

Welcomed and Wanted, Belongness and Support, Chance of Being Selected and Need

for Further Collaboration. Conclusion: Through practical placements and

engagement with other healthcare professionals, the student’s ability to utilize

interpersonal skills and professional skills are highly developed and by becoming

part of a community of practice, they develop to become an essential asset in today’s

health workforce.

Keywords: Student nurses, community of practice, student experiences, practice learning

INTRODUCTION

A Communities of Practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a common concern or passion

for something they do and learn how to improve it through regular interaction. The inclusion

of such practice in various educational systems has gained momentum since the 1990s (Fox,

2000; Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002).

Lave and Wenger (1991) described learning as a situated activity, employing the phrase,

‘Legitimate Peripheral Participation’. Learners participating in a community of practitioners,

assimilate into the sociocultural practices of that community and gain competence through

acquisition of knowledge and skill from those positioned as masters (Lave and Wenger, 1991).

This viewpoint is in line with the apprenticeship and work-based models of learning, that have

been developed as a social learning framework incorporating four main components i.e.,

community, identity, meaning and practice (Wenger, 1998).

Undergraduate nurse education in Europe is harmonized through the requirements set out

within the EU Directive 2005/36 and the Council Directive 2006/100. This includes established

participation in theoretical and practical hours to help learners reach the required standards.

The clinical practice component comprises at least 50% of the total degree and generally takes

Page 2 of 9

497

Schembri, N. (2024). Experiences of Undergraduate Nursing Students on Clinical Placement as a Formal Community of Practice. Advances in Social

Sciences Research Journal, 11(2). 496-504.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.112.16565

place within a licensed health and social care settings under the form of mentored practice

placement. This experience is based upon an established tripartite collaboration involving the

learner, the nurse educator and the clinical mentor as the main stakeholders. Such framework

can be viewed as a formal Community of Practice (CoP) as it comprises the three dimensions

required to form a CoP i.e., mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire (Wenger,

1998).

This study explored the experiences of undergraduate nursing students in enhancing the

clinical placement experience as a formal Community of Practice.

Development of the Community of Practice Concept

The concept of CoP has been introduced in the early 1990s, with most of the papers on the

subject published a decade later 2007 (Ranmuthugala et al., 2011). In 1991, Laver and Wenger

introduced CoP in their situated learning theory putting emphasis on the development of

novice and expert relationships (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002). The same authors

further developed the concept in 1998 whereby they focused on the interaction between people

and the participation of members who actively engage in sharing and creating knowledge

(Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002). At such stage, a CoP was considered a joined

enterprise, with members’ mutual engagement, and a shared repository of resources. In 2002,

Wenger and his colleagues (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002) redefined a CoP as an

informal tool to bring a group of people who work parallel together to share knowledge and to

innovate practice. These people have a shared interest and pursue innovative ways to improve

practice, and share resources (Ranmuthugala et al., 2011). An important issue to be noted is

that a CoP is considered different from a network, because members of a CoP share a mutual

interest in something, in contrast to the informal relationships in networks which are often

related to a broad area of practice (Andrew et al., 2009).

Features of a Community of Practice

A community of practice is usually characterised by the existence of a mutual engagement in

social practices from which a shared repertoire of practices, understandings, routines, actions

and artefacts emerge. There are three main essential characteristics required to create a

community of practice that are defines as the domain, the community and the practice.

The Domain:

A community of practice has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. Membership

therefore implies a commitment to the domain and a shared competence that distinguishes

members from other people.

The Community:

In pursuing their interest in their domain, the members engage in various activities and

discussions aimed to assist each other and share relevant information. The members build

mutual relationships that enable them to learn from each other.

The Practice:

Members of a COP develop a shared repertoire of resources that often range from experiences,

stories, tools that are shared in ways to address recurring problems encountered in practice.

Communities of practice are also known as learning networks or thematic groups.

Page 3 of 9

498

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 2, February-2024

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

As argued by Wenger (2000), it is by developing these three elements in parallel that one

cultivates such a community.

Community of Practice in Nurse Education

Andrew, Tolson and Ferguson (2008) discuss functions of Communities of Practice in nurse

education by emphasising that for learning to be of lasting value, the process must build on the

strengths of both academics and practitioners. In nursing, the complexity surrounding the

relative positions of theory and practice means that collaborative working is not yet fully

embedded into the profession. As a way forward, educators and nurse practitioners could use

this approach to develop collaborative professional networking and to achieve greater

theory/practice alignment (Andrew and Wilkie, 2007).

Nursing students become part of a CoP as they learn about and become enculturated in their

discipline. Through their academic coursework and clinical practice components within the

course structure, they experience mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire

that marks a community of practice. They are also exposed to the interprofessional experience

with a multidisciplinary community established between their academic institutions and the

clinical settings including lecturers and other professional practitioners. As a result of this

interaction and activity, students develop an interprofessional identity as they also become

active members of this interprofessional community. Through becoming active members

within this community, they enhance their learning and form their professional identity

(DeMatteo and Reeves, 2012).

In their work, Lauder et al. (2004) proposed that for student nurses to learn to become fully

fledged nursing professionals, they needed to be in authentic practice placements working with

patients, communities and other professionals. When the learner arrives in the authentic

context (clinical practice placement), it is often likely that the situation for them is unfamiliar.

Lave and Wenger (1991) developed the concepts of sponsorship and legitimate peripheral

participation within Communities of Practice to explain the process that occurs when the

learner arrives in the workplace and begins to acquire professional competence. Support and

guidance are usually provided by experienced members of the community as the learner

becomes involved in everyday activities and this is enhanced by the involvement of the

educators that act as experienced member of the Community of Practice to continually support

the student. As the learner becomes more settled and familiar with the activities they

undertake, the community members engage them further into practice and subsequently, their

responsibilities increase and develop along with their expertise.

METHOD

This research adopted a descriptive qualitative approach to facilitate the collection and analysis

of insights on the phenomenon under investigation. The study involved a total of 12 student

nurses enrolled on the undergraduate general nursing degree program at the Malta College of

Arts, Science and Technology. Inclusion criteria specified participants who were currently

student nurses in their final year of training, proficient in English, and have participated in a

clinical practice placement within the previous six months. A non-probability purposive

sampling was adopted.