How nursing students explain their success and failure in clinical experiences

Student motivation is a faculty concern at all strata of the educational process. A major issue in motivation is the student's perception of the situation and explanation of the cause of success or failure. The education literature indicates little research on how student nurses actually perceive and explain their success and failure. This paper addresses success and failure issues by reviewing attribution theory and describing a study of attribution made by student nurses following completion of clinical nursing courses in one school. Explanations were obtained for success and failure both of nursing care provided and for mastery of theory. The data obtained reveal some interesting patterns and indicate the need for further research in this area.