Nursing Students’ Experiences About Clinical Practice Tutoring: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

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Objective: Nursing students’ experiences about clinical practice tutoring in a public university from southern Spain and at its two attached educational centres were analysed. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out. The population was comprised of nursing students attending their fourth year of university during the 2023/2024 academic period, with a final sample of 179 subjects. Sociodemographic data were collected and a validated questionnaire on opinions about the figure of clinical practice tutors was applied, with 34 closed questions offering five answer options. The questions were categorized into 17 dimensions. A question on the students’ satisfaction with tutoring of the practices was included, in addition to an open question to gather the students’ comments and/or suggestions in relation to clinical practice tutoring. The analysis was performed through a data matrix in SPSS. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the centres according to the questionnaire dimensions, considering p-values < 0.05 to establish statistically significant differences. The open question was analysed using Atlas.ti. Results: Most of the students were women, with an approximate mean age of 23 years old. Significant differences were detected among the centres in almost all dimensions from the questionnaire. High satisfaction levels were obtained in the three centres. A total of 83 verbatims were collected in the open question and grouped into eight categories. Conclusion: Nursing students place significant importance on the role of the clinical tutor. Clinical tutors who demonstrate enthusiasm for teaching, foster a positive environment based on active listening, respect, and the encouragement of autonomy, are essential to enhancing the students’ experience during clinical placements.