Factors Affecting Learning and Development of Clinical Skills in Pharmacology Course: Nursing Student's Viewpoints, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Pharmacology education for nursing students aims to teach them how to acquire the necessary skills in the field of patients’ pharmaceutical cares; the acquisition of these skills is one of the necessary qualifications in nursing profession. This study aimed to determine the factors affecting learning and development of clinical skills in pharmacology course from the viewpoint of nursing students.
In this descriptive study, 200 nursing students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, selected through convenient sampling in 2014 were enrolled. Data were gathered through a researcher-made questionnaire consisted of six categories including instructor’s clinical competence, instructor’s educational competence, instructor’s interpersonal communication, clinical learning environment, curriculum planning and student factors. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive and analytical statistics (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests).
Instructor’s clinical competence (2.32 ± 0.33) and clinical learning environment (2.13 ± 0.39) had the most and the least effects on learning and development of clinical skills in pharmacology course from the students’ viewpoints, respectively.
Paying attention to and strengthening the instructors’ qualifications, recruiting efficient teachers, and creating appropriate clinical environment can have important role in learning medical care. On the other hand, considering the motivational factors affecting students’ success in acquiring knowledge and experience and their appreciation of the importance and necessity of proper medication, and providing strategies to increase students’ clinical learning can facilitate and strengthen learning process of pharmaceutical care.