Learning Experience of Student Nurses through Reflection on Clinical Practice: A Case Study in Pediatric Nursing, Southern Thailand

Abstract

This article aims to describe student nurse experiences of clinical practice through their reflections. Forty reflections on clinical practice in a pediatric department were conducted at a tertiary hospital. Student nurses wrote reflections which were then thematically analyzed. Analysis was founded on the following: First, situations of nursing care in medical and surgical pediatrics; Second, clinical practice with nursing care as procedurals; Third, results after student’s activities; and Fourth, reflections of students presented as “what?”, “now what?”, and “new actions?” Particularly, reflections of student nurses were classed into 7 themes; 1) “Significant knowledge for nursing practice”, 2)“Better self-confidence for nursing practices”, 3)“Patient and family centers”, 4) “Concentration/attention must come first”, 5) “Practice carefully”, 6) “Make students have accountability, honesty, and ethics” and 7) “Mirror for improving intervention in the future as professional nurses”. Overall, student nurses had an improved learning experience in pediatric nursing care through reflection on clinical practice.

doi:10.14456/WJST.2015.66