The clinical seminar as a learning methodology: an evaluation of nursing students' views

Objective: To explore students' assessments of the clinical seminar as a complementary teaching method to the clinical practicum experience. Methods: This was a qualitative study based on the hermeneutic phenomenology of Gadamer. Twenty-three open-ended interviews were conducted from among the 132 first-year students who attended an initial clinical practicum. We performed a qualitative analysis of the data using ATLAS.ti software. Results: The students agreed that the clinical seminar gave them the opportunity to learn about procedures, nursing care and interpersonal relationships. They also found it very helpful when they encountered challenging stressful situations as they performed their practice, and believed it allowed them to make a connection between the theory in the classroom and the clinical practice. Conclusions: These seminars can contribute to reducing levels of stress during clinical practice. They can also help students obtain significant learning from their fellows and reduce the theory-practice gap.