Abstract:

Clinical stage in nursing students requires a complete understanding about clinical setting and various cases in the clinic. The scope of clinical stage is both hospital and community settings with a comprehensive knowledge and clinical skills. For years Nursing Department has been held a clinical preparation program for students in the fourth year before entering clinical stage which is called clinical study. This program is a six week orientation in the clinical and community settings where students are introduced with common cases in all departments, assessment in patients, a real clinical procedures, and clinical environment. The aim of this research was to evaluate the role of clinical study in students’ performance during the clinical stage. This research used qualitative method. Twelve students in their clinical stage were involved as a respondent in a focus group discussion. We explored four aspects including 1) stress and anxiety at the first weeks or during the clinical stage, 2) students’ readiness to manage a new case in a new department, 3) a clear understanding of how to interact with the patients including the assessment phase, 4) students’ clinical skill, and 5) how students perceive clinical study in relation with their clinical performance. The findings showed that students were able to manage anxiety whenever changed to a new department, and there was a clearer understanding of what knowledge and skills needed in the clinical stage. An essential point was that students consider this as a positive program before they were placed clinical stage.

Keywords:

Clinical performance, nursing student, clinical study.