Clinical placement anxiety in undergraduate nursing students: A concept analysis

Abstract

Objective: The primary aim of this review was to complete an in-depth analysis of clinical placement anxiety in undergraduate nursing students. Our overall goal was to establish a strong foundation for clinical education strategies and future research on clinical placement anxiety in nursing education.

Design & methods: We utilized Walker and Avant's systematic 8-step approach to concept analysis as a framework to develop a comprehensive understanding of clinical placement anxiety in undergraduate students.

Data sources: A review of existing literature on clinical placement anxiety was conducted using the electronic databases of PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychInfo, as well as a grey literature and snowball search. Search terms included clinical placement, clinical experience, nursing students, undergraduate nursing students, and anxiety.

Results: The literature search resulted in 81 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Five defining attributes were identified: a vague or unknown threat, psychological-emotional responses, psychological-cognitive responses, physiological responses, and unfamiliar environments or situations. Antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of the concept were also highlighted.

Conclusions: Insights gleaned from this concept analysis may enhance the ability of clinical nursing educators to effectively prevent and manage student anxiety in the clinical setting. By contextualizing anxiety, we have also validated the importance of further exploration of the anxiety experienced by undergraduate nursing students during their clinical experiences. Thus, this concept analysis establishes the foundation for educational strategies, as well as future research in nursing education.

Keywords: Anxiety; Clinical experience; Clinical placements; Undergraduate nursing student.