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

Aim: To better understand the meaning of clinical related critical incident stress experienced by undergraduate nursing students. Background: Undergraduate nursing students who engage in learning in the clinical practice setting may expe-rience critical incidents.Design: Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics (1960/2013) was used to explore the meaning of clinical related critical incident stress experienced by undergraduate nursing students.Methods: 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.Results: 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.Conclusion: 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.