Exploring the meaning of critical incident stress experienced by undergraduate nursing students: A hermeneutic study

To better understand the meaning of clinical related critical incident stress experienced by undergraduate nursing students.

Undergraduate nursing students who engage in learning in the clinical practice setting may experience critical incidents.

Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics (1960/2013) was used to explore the meaning of clinical related critical incident stress experienced by undergraduate nursing students.

A purposive sample was used to recruit 11 students who were enrolled in a Canadian university baccalaureate nursing program. Data collection involved conducting semi-structured interviews over 10 months in 2020-2021. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and the data were analyzed using the interpretive method of hermeneutics.

Findings from this research revealed that the student-teacher relationship was influenced by students' experiences of critical incident stress. Students' navigating uncertainty and the need to maintain the optic of perfection had a potential impact on the response to critical incidents.

This study highlighted that critical incident stress may lead to distress associated with students' altered perception of nursing as a discipline and profession as well as created opportunity for new insights and possibilities.