Conformity with Clinical Setting among Nursing Students as a Way to Achieve Belongingness: A Qualitative Study

Belongingness is one of the most important needs among students in order to have proper performance in clinical setting. If basic needs of students to security and belonging are not met, higher level needs will be of less importance and there will not be an opportunity to consider them. The purpose of this study is to present a set of findings by studies exploring nursing students’ experiences of belongingness in clinical settings. We present the findings related to the theme of conformity to clinical settings in this paper. In this phenomenological study, 10 undergraduate students from Schools of Nursing and Midwifery affiliated to Lorestan University of Medical Sciences were selected using purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were done. All interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed by Giogi’s method. In relation to the theme of "conformity with the clinical setting" as one of the main themes of the study, a total of 3 categories and 11 subcategories were deriviated. Compliance with clinical environments (subcategories included observing the rules, familiarity with clinical environment, and trying to adapt with environment), establishing a safe atmosphere (subcategories consisted of safe physical environment, psychologically safe environment, socially safe environment, and improvement of interpersonal interactions) and the impact of community networks of nursing (subcategories consisted of peers and nursing staff, nurses as role models, the key role of head nurses and clinical instructors). In order to achieve belongingness in clinical setting, there is an urgent need for reinforcement of compliance and adaptation of nursing students with clinical environments and information about the settings and it’s policies, relevant agency personnel, clinical atmosphere with trust, security and improvement, interpersonal interaction considering the impact of social networks, including peers, clinical instructors, and nursing staff.