The experience of graduated midwifery students about clinical education: A phenomenological study

Improvement and promotion of the quality of clinical education requires continuous assessment of the current situation, and also identifying the strengths and weaknesses. Student's views and ideas as learner can help future planning. This study aims to identify the experiences of midwifery graduates about factors affecting their clinical learning. A qualitative study using phenomenology approach was conducted. Ten midwifery graduates were selected based on purposive sampling and then interviewed. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis. The extracted conceptual codes were classified into several main concepts. There were two main themes; factors facilitating learning and factors preventing learning, and seven sub themes; performance of instructor, pre-clinical training, students satisfaction, lack of peripheral facilities, lack of coordination of educational planning and behaviors of health care personnel. Trained human resources and equipment for midwifery educational planning are needed to provide a supportive learning atmosphere and promote the quality of clinical learning.