Dr. SOEURN Visal
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSNY4) and Associate Degree in Nursing (ADNY2 & ADNY3) students from UP are completing their practicums across different hospitals in Phnom Penh. These hospitals are the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, National Pediatric Hospital, Community Medical Centre, Sihanouk Hospital Centre of Hope, and the Kossamak Hospital.
Forty-five BSNY4 students are doing their three-month internship. The internship practicum is the last one before students sit their final exams and become professional nurses. By the end of this practicum they should be practicing with enough confidence, knowledge and skills to be competent new graduates.
There are also 16 students from the ADN program who are doing their clerkship which is an 8 week clinical practicum for their year. Both groups of students were accompanied to their respective hospitals by Faculty of Nursing Clinical Instructors who have a strong professional relationship with each hospital facility. The Clinical Instructors visit the hospitals during the students’ practicum to monitor and encourage students in their progress, and work with them on cases they are caring for in practice.
A major role of the Clinical Instructor is also to liaise closely with nurse managers and preceptors as well as other hospital authorities to ensure a collaboration that is focused on the quality of the students’ placements.
During students’ practicum they will rotate to different areas of the hospital to gain a well-rounded set of experiences. It is expected that they will be using all of their nursing knowledge and skills, learned through their nursing education to provide a high quality of care to patients and their families. It is also expected that they will develop the behaviors and professionalism required of nursing students about to graduate into their chosen profession.
