Nurses as motivators or suppressors of nursing student's learning in clinical learning

Clinical practice is the most important place to familiarize nursing students with the realities of nursing practice. In this respect, nurses play a significant role in the familiarization process. The purpose of this study was to explore nursing students and instructors’ understanding on the role of nurses in the development of motivating for clinical learning in nursing students. A qualitative design with a content analysis approach was used to gather and analyze data. 16 nursing students and 4 nurse instructors from two Medical Science Universities were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. During data analysis two categories were developed: “Transition from the challenges of nursing profession” and “impact of nurses’ performance on students’ motivation for clinical learning”. Each category had three and four subcategories, respectively. It was indicated that nursing profession’s issues, cultural and social conditions, organizational issues, evidence-based practice, decision making based on authority rather than routines, respecting patients’ rights or violating their legal privacy indirectly affected students’ motivation for learning. But nurses’ relationship with students directly affected their motivation for learning. Nurses’ awareness of their role in students’ motivation for clinical learning play a significant role in improving the quality of clinical education. In addition, inspiring clinical learning in students requires the optimization of nursing profession conditions as well as nurses’ empowerment.