The first clinical experience is a turning point in the educational journey of nursing students as it marks the beginning of their professional development. This experience is often stressful for students. This study was conducted mainly to research, describe and interpret nursing students' perceptions of stressors in the clinical environment in their first clinical experience. The present phenomenological study selected seven nursing students through purposive and snow balling sampling and questioned them in semi-structured interviews. The data acquired were analyzed by Colaizzi's method. The following themes emerged in this study: 1- the sense of inadequacy, 2- being ignored, 3- ineffective communication, 4- prevailing sadness and 5- ambiguity. The results of the present study showed that nursing students experience several sources of stress in their first clinical experiences. Hence nursing administrators should diligently evaluate and rectify nursing students' clinical stressors.
Keywords: Clinical environment; Nursing student; Phenomenology; Stressor.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.