PURPOSE: To understand the difficulties experienced by supervisors conducting home care nursing practicums.
METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from six supervisors working in different home care settings. The results were analyzed qualitatively using the KJ method.
RESULTS: The experienced difficulties expressed by the supervisors were integrated into three categories. The first category is “difficulties related to the practicum program,” included (1) differing teacher and supervisor outlooks on home care nursing and anticipated experiences of the practicum, and (2) difficulties in student evaluations. The second is “difficulties related to students,” incorporated students’ lack of maturity as nursing providers and visitors, and their lack of interest in home care service. The third category is “difficulties related to the practicum setting,” contained several causes: (1) concerns around burdens on specific staff nurses, patients and their families, (2) difficulties in meeting unique conditions in each setting, and (3) shortages for instructional time, etc. The supervisors mentioned that they were trying to address these difficulties in various ways.
CONCLUSIONS: Supervisors experienced several types of difficulties in conducting practicums and they were caused by discordance between teachers and supervisors, the quality of students, the workplace environment, and staff’s feelings. It is presumed that these situations may have led to inconsistent teaching methods. Therefore, efforts to minimize these difficulties are necessary.
