Publications

This paper is part of a longitudinal development project. We try to comprehend the learning experience of nursing students during their first clinical study course, aiming to identify how and what nursing students learn to qualify the support of clinical supervisors and educators. The methology of the project is qualitative, inspired by the thoughts of Michael Eraut on workplace learning. Seen from the workplace perspective, learning seems to be oriented toward the situations facing the students, rather than toward fabricated study methods. The learning of nursing students seems to be oriented toward socializing into the hierarchy of the clinic, toward the progression from being a novice to becoming an advanced beginner, overcoming overwhelming experiences. A socialization supported by newly educated nurses who can still express their practice, or supported by their private relations. When the new nursing students are required to plan adequate nursing, this is founded on anatomic and physiological knowledge at a basic level. The conclusion is that learning during the first clinical study course seems to be oriented toward how do we do things here? The learning seems informal and not based on best evident practice.