ed based
A Qualitative Study of Nursing Student Experiences of Clinical Practice
Farkhondeh Sharif1 & Sara Masoumi2
1Psychiatric Nursing Department, Fatemeh (P.B.U.H) College of Nursing & Midwifery Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Zand BlvD, Shiraz, Iran
2English Department, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Published 9 November 2005
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Abstract
Background
Nursing student's experiences of their clinical practice provide greater insight to develop an effective clinical teaching strategy in nursing education. The main objective of this study was to investigate student nurses' experience about their clinical practice.

Methods
Focus groups were used to obtain students' opinion and experiences about their clinical
Focus groups are widely used as a data collection technique. The purpose of using focus group is to obtain information of a qualitative nature from a predetermined and limited number of people [12,13].

Using focus group in qualitative research concentrates on words and observations to express reality and attempts to describe people in natural situations [14].

The group interview is essentially a qualitative data gathering technique [13]. It can be used at any point in a research program and one of the common uses of it is to obtain general background information about a topic of interest [14].

Focus groups interviews are essential in the evaluation process as part of a need assessment, during a program, at the end of the program or months after the completion of a program to gather perceptions on the outcome of that program [15,16]. Kruegger (1988) stated focus group data can be used before, during and after programs in order to provide valuable data for decision making [12].

The participants from which the sample was drawn consisted of 90 baccalaureate nursing students from two hundred nursing students (30 students from the second year and 30 from the third and 30 from the fourth year) at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery). The second year nursing students already started their clinical experience. They were arranged in nine groups of ten students.