Nursing Students’ Understanding and Experiences of Student-Patient Relationships: A Thematic Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31436/ijcs.v8i1.407Keywords:
Student-patient, Nursing, Students, Clinical placement, Relationships, BruneiAbstract
Background: A good student-patient relationship influences the quality of patient care and promotes student learning opportunities. There are only a few recent studies related to the student-patient relationship, and most of them were conducted in quantitative studies. This study aimed to explore Bruneian nursing students’ perspectives on nursing student-patient relationships during their clinical placement. Furthermore, the factors influencing these relationships and reflected on the changes students undergo were examined.
Methods: The study adopted a qualitative descriptive approach. Seventeen students from the second, third, and fourth years participated in online interviews, which were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. Purposive sampling was employed.
Results: This study identified three broad themes regarding students’ perceptions, understanding, and experiences of student-patient relationships: (1) navigating professional boundaries in student-patient interactions, 2) mentorship and relationship building with patients, and (3) barriers to effective student-patient interaction
Conclusion: This study highlights the relationships that nursing students have with patients. Students first find it difficult to maintain professional boundaries with patients but become better through mentorship and clinical experiences. Nurses’ roles, clinical experiences and positive patient attitudes are significant factors. Nevertheless, language barriers, patient health conditions, and time constraints present challenges. Nursing education programs should continue to provide continuous support to students to help them establish professional and therapeutic relationships with patients, as well as to support their emotional resilience. This support should be provided through encouragement and guidance.
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