Nursing Students’ Experiences Regarding Nursing Process: A Qualitative Study

Background: The nursing process is a method used by students involving a systematic study of clinical decisions, but the students are faced with numerous challenges in application of nursing procedures. Therefore, the researchers sought to do a qualitative study with the purpose of examining nursing students’ experiences regarding the nursing process. Methods: This was a qualitative study done in Hajar hospital in Shahrekord. The participants were 9 nursing students studying in their sixth semester who were selected through the purposive sampling method. Students’ experiences were analyzed through the qualitative content analysis method. Data saturation occurred after interviewing 9 participants. Results: Based on data analysis obtained from students’ experiences, 3 major categories were specified: decrease of performance, decreased critical thinking and students’ dissatisfaction. Conclusion: Employing the nursing process has decreased critical thinking and increased students’ dissatisfaction. It is necessary for nursing instructors and professors to use alternative methods that increase critical thinking for the nursing process.