Stresses and threats reported by baccalaureate students in relation to an initial clinical experience

Based upon the theory of cognitive appraisal of stress, an instrument was designed to describe the aspects of a clinical experience that were challenging or threatening. The qualitative data largely reflected the threatening, rather than the challenging, aspects of the experience. Thus, this research report provides a typological analysis of qualitative data describing the threatening nature of an initial medical-surgical experience for 262 baccalaureate students. Content analysis was used to determine the six predominant themes of threat which included personal inadequacy, fear of making errors, uncertainty, the clinical instructor, being scared or frightened, and fear of failure. The threats elaborated upon in this research should provide the instructor with some insight into understanding the stressors inherent in the clinical experience. The students' comments offer direction for nurse educators to pursue in facilitating therapeutic discussions with nursing students.