Exploration of undergraduate nursing students' perspectives on conducting specialized nursing education during internship: A phenomenological research study

Aim: To comprehend the perspectives of undergraduate nursing students on conducting specialized nursing education during the internship phase, providing a basis for colleges to formulate plans for specialized nursing education. Background: Nursing specialty in China was included in the national controlled specialty in 2024, which means signifying an effort to decrease the enrollment of junior college degree nurses, thereby increasing the number of high- quality undergraduate nurses. While the higher the education level of nursing students, the higher their expectations for themselves. However, after entering clinical practice, their social status and job nature are significantly different from those of doctors, which creates a psychological imbalance. In addition, employers lack a reasonable employment mechanism and undergraduate nursing students are used equally with vocational and technical nursing students, making them feel that their self-worth is difficult to realize. Therefore, their professional attitude becomes more negative (Meng Wei, 2018). In the process of forming professional identity among undergraduate nursing students, the professional role models and clinical experience of specialized nurses can serve as important promoting factors. By increasing interaction with specialized nurses and learning specialized nursing, undergraduate nursing students can better understand the professional role and values of nurses and form positive professional ethics and attitudes (Huang et al., 2023). To better adapt to the national health needs and assist undergraduates in transitioning to clinical practice, deepening the understanding of the profession and career, the integration of professional education during the internship phase can enable students to recognize their strengths, cultivate an awareness of suitable professions and facilitate a targeted adaptation from academic studies to clinical practice. Design: The researcher initially drafted the interview outline through a literature review and intra-group discussions. To ensure the research content's richness, a semi-structured interview method was adopted. The Colaizzi seven-step analysis method was applied in the analysis. Methods: Employing phenomenological study and purposive sampling, with data saturation as the guiding principle, 24 undergraduate nursing students undergoing internship at a tertiary hospital in China were selected for focus group interviews. Results: Four main themes were extracted from the perspectives of undergraduate nursing students. These themes encompass awareness of specialized nursing and specialized nurses, recognition of specialized nursing education during the internship phase, demands for specialized nursing education during the internship phase and career expectations. Conclusion: Nursing administrators in hospitals and educational managers in colleges should prioritize align education with clinical needs, address the requirements of nursing students, strengthen collaboration between institutions,and advance the further development of specialized nursing.