Explaining Nursing Students' Perceptions of Clinical Teaching Through Concept Mapping: A Qualitative Study

Clinical nursing education provides an opportunity to learn the skills and competencies required by the profession. Therefore, using modern educational methods such as concept mapping in nursing can be useful. The purpose of this study was to explain the perceptions of nursing students in education using concept mapping.

This qualitative study had a conventional content analysis and was conducted on 16 sixth-semester nursing students of Rasht Islamic Azad University, who passed the clinical unit of intensive care nursing by using concept map in 2018-2019. Data were collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews, and data analysis was performed by Graneheim and Lundman's conventional content analysis method using MAXQDA software.

The main theme of the study was "effective clinical education", which encompassed three categories of "efficiency of clinical education" consisting subcategories of "deepen learning", "self-directed learning, "objectification of nursing process" and "adaptation", "guiding the thought process" consisting subcategories of "get a comprehensive view", "reinforcement of critical thinking and clinical judgement" and "reflection" and "a step toward becoming a professional" consisting subcategories of "professional interaction", "client-centered care" and "seeking help".

The results showed concept map is a useful tool in clinical nursing education that students considered it effective clinical education. This method is a powerful tool in clinical nursing education in designing nursing care plan that can replace traditional methods.