Perception of nursing students’ on clinical experience in the National Referral Hospital of Bhutan

BACKGROUND: This study has been carried out to study the usefulness of the clinical posting at the National Referral Hospital in Bhutan. It is important to know whether the clinical experience leads to gaining nursing skills, and nursing being a skill-oriented profession, clinical placement provides an opportunity, and education that carry a heavy weight in their wholesome nursing education. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to explore how nursing students commonly perceive their clinical experience. METHODS: A focus group discussion was conducted with eight to ten students/group from three levels of nursing education. The groups were 1(st)-, 2(nd)-, and 3(rd)-year students who expressed their clinical experiences during the focus group discussions. The data were analyzed by content analysis using a thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the focus group discussion. The themes were “good exposure,” “connect theory to practice,” “anxiety and fear,” and “learning by task participation and helping.“ CONCLUSION: The clinical environment is different to classroom. In clinical areas, the students experience stress and anxiety, and learning is through working together, moreover, it finds out that real situation is not what is taught in the classroom.