A Qualitative Study of the Nursing Student Perception of Nursing Skill: It's Like a Key to a Lock

Abstract

Little is known about how nursing students perceived “nursing skills” concept. The purpose of the study was to examine nursing students' perceptions of nursing skills. This study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach. Participants were recruited using random from each class. The sample consisted of a total of 19 students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted through three focus group discussions. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis. Two main themes emerged from the participants' narratives: 1) meaning of the nursing and 2) sufficiency. The first theme describes competence, psychomotor skills, and soft skills sub-themes. The second theme describes course content, classroom content, and clinical environment sub-themes. It was revealed that the students did not comprehend the importance of soft skills sufficiently, especially in the first years of their education life, and they realized their importance during the hospital internship.