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'Doing clinical': The lived experience of nursing students
Vivian Yong
Research Officer, Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash Medical Centre, Monash University, Clayton VIC
Abstract
This investigation looked at the phenomenon of 'doing clinical' from nursing students' perspective. A qualitative descriptive research based on the phenomenological approach was chosen as the method to reveal the meaning of 'doing clinical', through the analysis of nursing students' descriptions of their everyday lived experience of undertaking the clinical program. Nine, second year Bachelor of nursing students with at least X weeks of clinical experience were interviewed. These intensive interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis of significant statements of the text was conducted resulting in sixteen theme clusters deriving from specific themes. These sixteen themes clusters of specific themes fell into 6 categories and these were: being in a world conflicting and confusing values, deciding whether nursing is for becoming a professional nurse, discovering what nursing is, being an acute learner, and having mixed feelings and thoughts on entry to the clinical program. The essential structure of the meaning of 'doing clinical' from a students' perspective is described and implications for nursing educational practice and research is discussed.
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