Assessment of Challenges and Difficulties Facing Bachelor Degree Nursing Students during Hospital Clinical Practice at Al-Baha University, Kingdom Saudi Arabia

Background: Most of a nursing student's curriculum is focused on clinical training because nursing is a practical profession. Although the setting for clinical learning is regarded as a crucial part of the nursing curriculum, it still seems that certain issues prevent students from learning and functioning well in the hospital. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the challenges and difficulties faced by bachelor's degree nursing students during hospital clinical practice at Al-Baha University - Saudi Arabia. Method: A descriptive, community-based study design was conducted by using a purposive sampling method on 80 nursing students from the third and fourth year (34 male and 46 female), during the period from February to April 2021. The data were collected by using a validated questionnaire, which consists of three parts, part one is the socio-demographic data of the students, part two is the obstacles and challenges that faced nursing students, and part three covers the effects of obstacles and challenges on nursing students' learning process. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 20, and appropriate tests were applied. Results: The results showed that more than half of the sample were female, the majority of them from the fourth -year, and the total mean score of the challenges and difficulties facing nursing students during clinical practice was (3.42 ± 0.47). In addition, the overall average rating of the effects of these challenges and difficulties on nursing students' learning process was (3.34 ± 0.81). There is a significant difference between the effect on the student learning process and gender (p-value 0.08), and there is a significant difference between challenges, difficulties facing students, and the number of subjects (p-value 0.005). Conclusion: The study has demonstrated the obstacles and problems faced by nursing students during their clinical practice, and they believe that these obstacles have a detrimental impact on the learning process in the clinical setting.