The highs and lows of learning to be a children's nurse

This study investigates student nurses' perceptions of the process of undergoing a programme of education leading to registration as a children's nurse.

Three groups of students (n = 14, 12 and eight) were invited to participate in a focus group using the nominal group technique to address the following questions: What has helped you in the process of becoming a children's nurse? What has hindered you in the process of becoming a children's nurse?

The factors which helped students most in their quest to become children's nurses included: the delivery of specialist lectures from child branch nurse lecturers, having good clinical placements with mentors who want to support students, and having the support of friends and family. An important factor was the desire to become a good children's nurse and wanting to work with children. Factors which hindered students included: having unsupportive mentors who misjudge student abilities, lack of academic resources including library reading materials, too many students in each clinical area and.