Concepts in Evaluating Effective Clinical Education: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Students’ Experiences

Background: Improving the quality of clinical nursing education requires continuous review of the current situation to address weaknesses. Students are the best sources to identify clinical education problems. Objectives: This study aimed to extend our knowledge about students’ views on the problems related to effective clinical education. Methods: Following a qualitative approach, the current study was conducted on nursing students in selected teaching hospitals in Mahabad, Iran, in 2019. Twenty students were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews based on the real experiences of nursing students of learning in a clinical education environment with answers to nine open-ended questions. The qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results: All interviews were transcribed to identify conceptual codes. Four general concepts and sub-concepts were identified, which included factors related to the clinical education environment, learners, clients, and clinical education instructors. Conclusions: Those who are responsible for making nursing education policies can use the findings to improve the quality of clinical education and develop students’ competencies to better care for patients, mainly by emphasizing clinical learning environments (e.g., facilities, empowering educational instructors, increasing students’ self-confidence, and client-to-student trust), which will translate into more interested and motivated students.