ArticleBMC nursing2026
Nursing students' lived experiences during their first psychiatric clinical placement: a hermeneutic phenomenological study.
Article in BMC nursing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPsychiatric nursing is one of the most demanding areas in clinical practice. Undergraduate nursing students often experience fear, stigma, and uncertainty during their initial clinical placement in psychiatric settings. Understanding these early experiences is important for informing strategies to support students' confidence, empathy, and professional identity. Limited research has explored how nursing students in Saudi Arabia interpret their first transition into psychiatric settings; this study aimed to explore the lived experiences of nursing students during their initial clinical placement.
methodsThis study used a qualitative design guided by van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 12 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a psychiatric clinical training program at a public university in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed following van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach, involving holistic, selective, and detailed reading with phenomenological reflection and interpretive writing.
findingsFour themes emerged, reflecting van Manen's four lifeworld existentials of space, body, time, and relation: entering an unfamiliar environment (lived space), emotional strain (lived body), uncertain beginnings to cautious adaptation (lived time), and confronting stigma and negotiating connections (lived relation).
conclusionsStudents' first psychiatric placements were characterized by fear, uncertainty, and emotional strain, which gradually gave way to cautious adaptation and moments of emerging confidence. The findings highlight the value of structured mentorship, supportive learning environments, and preparatory strategies such as simulation and anti-stigma initiatives to help students manage the emotional complexity of psychiatric nursing practice. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.