Nursing students' Experiences on Home Visiting Nursing Service in Public Health Center

간호학생들의 보건소 방문간호 실습 경험

Purpose: This is a phenomenological study to describe the experiences of nursing students on home visiting nursing service as a community nursing practice. Method: Individual interviews were conducted on subjective experiences of 17 nursing students. Data were analyzed through Colaizzi's method in which meaningful statements were extracted and these were clustered into 6 themes. Result: The nursing students started practice with anxiety and expectation at the same time. They were frightened at the clients' inferior environment and their level of loneliness. They also felt pity and experienced complicated feelings for the clients. However, the home visiting practice was a chance for them to discard prejudice on the clients. Positive experiences on visiting nursing practice reported by the nursing students included lively interactions between nurses and the clients, and variable provision of primary nursing care. However, facts such as much limited visiting time, non-professional and limited scope of practice were reported as negative experiences. They felt both worthiness of the home visit service and restricted self-capability at the same time through the practice. They also felt sorry for the clients because the home visit services were carried out during limited time period. Regardless of this, the home visit experience provided them an opportunity of self-growth. This self-growth includes increased awareness of issues for elderly, building of self-identity as a nursing student, self-reflection, and realization of the value of family. Conclusion: This study may provide data for better understanding of nursing students experiences of home visiting nursing services. However, more study on the barriers of their community health practice is needed in the future. Moreover, it is needed to establish desirable practice environment through the collaborative relationships between the university and staffs in the public health center.