Nursing students' ethical challenges in the clinical settings: A mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND:: Nursing students experience ethical conflicts and challenges during their clinical education. These may lead to moral distress and disturb the learning process.

OBJECTIVES:: This study aimed to explore and to evaluate the nursing students' ethical challenges in the clinical settings in Iran.

RESEARCH DESIGN:: This was a mixed-methods study with an exploratory sequential design.

PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT:: A total of 37 and 120 Iranian nursing students participated in the qualitative and quantitative phases, respectively.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS:: The ethical committee of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, approved the protocol of the study.

FINDINGS:: Three main categories were extracted from qualitative data including Low attention of nurses to the patients' preferences; Lack of authority; and Inadequate support. A total of 97% of the students had more than one ethical challenge in clinical settings and 48% of them stated that their challenges did not resolve. The total score of perceived ethical challenges was 62.03 ± 9.17, which was moderate. The highest mean score related to the "Low attention of nurses to the patients' preferences" subscale.

DISCUSSION:: The finding confirmed most of the existing results of other international researches about the frequency and kinds of baccalaureate nursing students' ethical challenges.

CONCLUSION:: Identifying student ethical challenges helps teachers to manage their clinical learning process better. This study may provide a view for the nurses, clinical educators, and managers toward nursing students' ethical challenges and their impact on nursing students' clinical experiences.