![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to describe two emergent subthemes from this study from each of the two major themes.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to describe the conclusions of this study and how results may inform future studies in nursing education.
Methods: The qualitative descriptive framework was employed to describe the phenomena of student nursing clinical experiences and career preparedness from a naturalistic perspective (Sandelowski, 2010). Male and female senior undergraduate students currently enrolled in a clinical course at a Midwestern University were eligible to participate in the study. After all clinical grades were posted, we announced the study by sending an email to the student listserv of the clinical course. An online consent was obtained for analysis of their existing clinical narratives. Twenty-eight clinical narratives across clinical settings from 7 students were analyzed using Nvivo qualitative software. A coding scheme was developed based upon several readings of all narratives to determine main concepts for coding. This scheme was continually revised as each narrative underwent coding. A codebook and memos were developed for two researchers who performed a coding comparison to achieve high coding consistency.
Results: Two major themes emerged including (1) Learning experiences and (2) Perceived nursing experiences that influence further professional practice. Subthemes of Theme I are (a) Positive experiences (b) Negative experiences and (c) Challenges of nursing practice. Theme II subthemes are (a) Perceived scope of nursing profession and (b) Perceived professional nursing role.
Conclusions: The findings provide a basis for revising and implementing the BSN curricula that would enhance the students’ clinical nursing competency and their perceptions of career preparedness.