Nursing Students

 Clinical learning is a main part of nursing education. Students’ exposure to clinical learning environment is one of the most important factors affecting the teaching-learning process in clinical settings. Identifying challenges of nursing students in the clinical learning environment could improve training and enhance the quality of its planning and promotion of the students. We aimed to explore Iranian nursing students’ challenges in the clinical learning environment. This is a qualitative study using the content analysis approach. The participants consisted of seventeen nursing students and three nursing instructors. The participants were selected through purposive sampling method and attended semi structured interviews and focus groups. Three themes emerged after data analysis, including ineffective communications, inadequate readiness, and emotional reactions. Nursing students in Iran are faced with many challenges in the clinical learning environment. All challenges identified in this study affected the students’ learning in clinical setting. Therefore, we recommend that the instructors prepare students with a specific focus on their communication and psychological needs. Nurses’ competence is based on the knowledge and skill taught to them. Nursing training is a combination of theoretical and practical learning experiences that enable nursing students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for providing nursing care. Nursing education is composed of two complementary parts: theoretical training and practical training. A large part of nursing education is carried out in clinical environments. In Iran and many other countries, clinical education forms more than half of the formal educational courses in nursing.