Iranian nursing students’ experiences of nursing

BACKGROUND: The negative attitudes and behaviors of Iranian nursing students impede learning and threaten their progression and retention in nursing programs. The need to understand students’ perception and experiences of nursing provide knowledge about effectiveness of nursing education program as well as their professional identity. The purpose of this study was to discover experiences of nursing students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a descriptive, exploratory and qualitative study, twelve senior nursing students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (School of Nursing and Midwifery) were participated. Data was collected via unstructured in-depth interview, and thematic analysis method was used for analyzing the data. FINDINGS: The findings from this study revealed that the nursing students in Iran experienced altered experiences during their education program as positive and negative. Two major themes were constructed from the thematic analysis of the transcripts: professional dimensions and professional conflicts. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding the findings, positive experiences of students have leaded them to acceptance and satisfaction of nursing and negative experiences to rejection and hating of nursing and lack of adaptation with their professional roles. Therefore, it is recommended that revision and improvement in nursing education program is essential to facilitate positive experiences and remove negative experiences of nursing student’s educational environment.