Explaining the Facilitating Individual Characteristics of Clinical Development in Nursing Undergraduates

Abstract

Background: The individual characteristics of nursing undergraduates play an important role in their clinical development and identifying the facilitator's characteristics can help to increase the effectiveness of educational programs in order to achieve the appropriate clinical practice (performance). Objective: The present study was conducted with the aim of explaining the facilitating individual characteristics of clinical development in nursing undergraduates. Methodology and Participants: This qualitative study was conducted by using a conventional content analysis approach. In order to achieve a wide range of experiences, views and maximal variance in data, 17 senior nursing undergraduates, 6 nursing clinical instructors and 4 working nurses in medical centers were included in study based on the purposive sampling method. Data were collected by using semi-structured interviews. After recording and transcribing the interviews, content analysis was used to extract the concepts. Findings: According to the participants' experiences, the facilitating individual characteristics of the clinical development included "respectful behavior", "individual dynamics", "initiative", "self-esteem" and "appropriate nursing mentality". Conclusion: The present study Identified students' characteristics which play a pivotal role in achieving clinical development. In order to achieve clinical development in nursing undergraduates, instructors and educational authorities should identify the students' impressive characteristics and applying the right strategies in order to develop and strengthen these qualities.