Background: Belongingness has been argued to be a prerequisite for students� learning in the clinical setting but\nmaking students feel like they belong to the workplace is a challenge. From a sociocultural perspective, workplace\nparticipatory practices is a framework that views clinical learning environments to be created in interaction\nbetween students and the workplace and hence, are dependent on them both. The aim of this study was to\nexplore the interdependence between affordances and engagement in clinical learning environments. The research\nquestion was: How are nursing students influenced in their interactions with clinical learning environments?\nMethods: An observational study with field observations and follow-up interviews was performed. The study setting\ncomprised three academic teaching hospitals. Field observations included shadowing undergraduate nursing students\nduring entire shifts. Fifty-five hours of field observations and ten follow-up interviews with students, supervisors and\nclinical managers formed the study data. A thematic approach to the analysis was taken and performed iteratively with\nthe data collection.\nResults: The results revealed that students strived to fill out the role they were offered in an aspirational way but that\nthey became overwhelmed when given the responsibility of care. When students� basic values did not align with those\nenacted by the workplace, they were not willing to compromise their own values. Workplaces succeeded in inviting\nstudents into the community of nurses and the practice of care. Students demonstrated hesitance regarding their\ndesire to belong to the workplace community.\nConclusion: The results imply that the challenge for clinical education is not to increase the experience of belongingness\nbut to maintain students� critical and reflective approach to health care practice. Additionally, results suggest students to\nbe included as an important stakeholder in creating clinical learning environments rather than being viewed as consumer\nof clinical education
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