RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The Fundamental Nursing clinical practicum is an essential module for nursing students. Some feel stress or anxiety about attending this first placement; however, evidence demonstrates that it is rare to explore the feelings of anxiety felt by the nursing students concerning their first clinical practicum. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to explore student nurses' experiences of anxiety felt regarding their initial clinical practicum while studying for their University degree. DESIGN: A phenomenological approach was used. SETTINGS: A university in Southern Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sampling of fifteen student nurses with anxiety reactions who had completed their first clinical practicum. METHODS: Data were collected using a semi-structured guide and deep interview. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step phenomenological method. RESULTS: Three themes surfaced in the findings. The first theme was anxiety around their first clinical practicum, which stirred up anxiety about: self-doubt, worry and fear; difficulty coping with the learning process; worry hampered establishing therapeutic relationships with patients; the progress of the patients' illness could not be predicted; and anxiety felt about lecturer-student interactions. The second theme was three phases of anxiety reactions, which included increasing anxiety before clinical practicum; exacerbated anxiety during clinical practicum, and relief of anxiety after clinical practicum. The third theme was coping behaviors. This comprised: self-reflection in preparation for clinical practicum; finding ways to release emotions; distractions from the anxiety; and, also facing their difficulties head-on. CONCLUSION: The findings could help raise the awareness of lecturers and students by understanding student nurses' anxiety experiences and facilitating a healthy preparation for their initial clinical practicum, consequently proactively helping reduce potential anxiety experiences.