Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception of nursing students' on-site clinical experience at intensive care unit(ICU), which will help on developing fundamental tool to enhance the effect of their clinical practice.
METHOD
Van Manens hermeneutic-phenomenological method has been used to analyze the data. Participants consisted of 74 third-year nursing students who performed the clinical practice at an ICU in C university hospital. The students got the group interviews and kept the clinical diaries. Data was collected from series of group interviews and contents of the students clinical diaries.
RESULT
Major concerns related to students clinical practice were found as follows: [being nervous about unfamiliar machines and situations], [being frustrated about the patients], [feeling of helplessness], [being stupefied from witnessing a death], [realizing the importance of health], [realizing individual patient's precious value through family's love], [realizing the importance of treating a patient as human being], [realizing the differences between theory and practice], [modelizing two aspects of nursing: professional and personal], [readiness to become a capable nurse].
CONCLUSION
We are able to obtain in-depth understandings about the nursing students lived experience of clinical practice at the ICU. Based upon this, there is a need to develop a better nursing intervention enhance the effectiveness of the nursing students clinical practice.

• Keywords: Nursing student; Clinical practice; Lived experience