Nursing students' perception of patient-centred care: A qualitative study

This study aimed to explain the understanding of nursing students from the concept of patient-centred care.

This is an explorative and descriptive-qualitative design.

The participants consisted of 15 nursing students who were selected through purposeful sampling, and data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analysed using a qualitative content analysis.

Data analysis led to the identification of three categories including the following: the inevitability of patient-centred care, the patient-centredness in comprehensive care and the importance of nursing process in patient-centred care. Introducing students to the concept of patient-centred care and how it can be achieved seems necessary during nursing education. Introducing a module on patient-centred care to the nursing curriculum is suggested to familiarize students with this concept.