How nursing students learn infection control education through undergraduate nursing programs: a phenomenographic research study

BACKGROUND: Competency in infection control is crucial for implementing nursing best practices to ensure patient safety. However, research is lacking on the infection control education received by nursing students prior to entering clinical settings as nurses. This study aimed to explore how nursing students conceptualize infection control care in undergraduate nursing programs. METHODS: This study employed a qualitative research method using phenomenography. Universities providing undergraduate nursing programs in Korea. Thirty nursing students: 10 students each from the 2(nd), 3(rd), and 4(th) years of five undergraduate programs. Data were collected from May 2019 to February 2020 through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a phenomenographic analysis procedure. RESULTS: Six descriptive categories were derived inductively for nursing students’ frames of reference regarding infection control care and six descriptive categories of how nursing students learned about infection control care. The structural framework of the identified categories, about how nursing students learn about infection control care, was presented as an outcome space. CONCLUSIONS: Given that nursing students demonstrate diverse conceptualizations of infection control and are at varying levels of learning, professors and clinical mentors need to develop theoretical education and clinical practice opportunities that consider these differences. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-023-01465-9.