Handling students’ misbehaviors in crowded classrooms: the nursing faculty members’ experiences

INTRODUCTION: The ability of teachers to organize classes and manage the behavior of their students is critical in achieving positive educational outcomes. The aim of this study was to explain the experiences of nursing faculty members in managing disruptive behaviors in the classroom. METHODS: The study adopted descriptive explanatory qualitative study design and provided an avenue to explain the experiences of nursing faculty members in managing disruptive behavior in the classroom Participants were included via the purposive sampling. In-depth and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The content analysis presented by Graneheim and Lundman was used to analyze the data. The present study utilized four strength criteria, including credibility, confirmability, transferability, and dependability. RESULTS: The finding were presented using five themes that emerged from 350 open codes, including managing disruptive behavior in the classroom, guiding the disruptive student, trying to increase learning, and making the class more interesting, setting the rules and regulations of the class with sub-categories. CONCLUSIONS: Participants cited strategies that they enabled to understand the cause of misbehavior and implement strategies to modify students’ misbehaviors by creating a safe and healthy climate to nurture effective learning by students. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-023-04692-5.