[Nursing students'initial clinical experiences]

ABSTRACT

Identification of nursing students' initial clinical experiences helps instructors and educational planners to acquire a more accurate insight about students' unique experiences and to assist them during this journey more effectively. This study aimed to investigate the nursing students' initial clinical experiences. In this qualitative research, qualitative content analysis performed on 340 narratives and journals of junior nursing students on their daily clinical experience selected using goal oriented sampling method. Narratives and journals were written by 46 [32 female and 14 male] junior students of Fatemeh [PBUH] Nursing and Midwifery School in Shiraz, during October 2008 to February 2009. The initial clinical experiences were emerged in 3 themes and 7 categories. The main themes were Professional socialization [with 3 categories as professional identity, professional belonging, and learning professional concepts and skills], personal growth [with two categories as the lesson of life and spiritual growth], and internal reflection [with 2 categories as satisfaction and intrinsic challenges]. The findings reflect the importance of considering students' unique experiences; supporting them during professional socialization, empowering their personal growth, enhancing their professional belonging and satisfaction, and preventing the occurrence of intrinsic challenges by preparing them to encounter clinical settings. Reflection on clinical experiences through writing journals and narratives and prospective qualitative studies are also recommended