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ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to ascertain the influence of clinical experience on academic performance of undergraduate nursing students in a tertiary institution in Benin City. An optimal clinical experience has been found to have a positive impact on nursing students professional growth and development.The objectives of the research work were to assess the level of exposure of undergraduate nursing students to clinical practice, to assess the factors influencing clinical learning experience and to ascertain the influence of clinical experience on undergraduate nursing students academic performance.The study employed descriptive design method which involves description of events, situation and phenomena. The area of study encompassed undergraduate nursing students in their third to fifth year of study in the department of Nursing Science in the University of Benin Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred and fifty (150) undergraduate nursing students were sampled from a population of 243 nursing students. Simple random sampling technique was adopted. A well self-structured questionnaire was used to elicit items relevant to the research objectives. Prior to administration, the instrument was tested for reliability and the Cronbach alpha coefficients for each construct gave aa reliable value of >0.75. the data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. questions on attitude, level of use and factors affecting use were analyzed in frequency and percentage. The study showed a high level of exposure (88.5%) of the students to clinical practice and a corresponding good level of academic performance (71.5%). The major factor contributing to effective learning experience was found to be guidance in the clinical environment while the major barrier was unconducive clinical learning environment. The study therefore recommends that government, nursing staff and preceptors make concerted effort to enhance clinical learning experience of nursing students by providing resources to facilitate the learning experience, provide guidance and supervision of the students. This will improve the learning experience and positively impact on academic performance of nursing students.
