Objectives: To undertake a concept analysis of clinical leadership in nursing students.
Design: Concept analysis.
Data sources: A comprehensive search was conducted using the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline and PsychINFO using the following search terms: clinical leadership AND management AND preregistration OR pre-registration OR undergraduate AND nursing student* OR student nurse*.
Review methods: Nursing student clinical leadership was explored using the eight-step process of concept analysis proposed by Walker and Avant (2014).
Results: The defining attributes included effective interpersonal communication skills, contemporary clinical knowledge and being a role model to others.
Conclusion: This concept analysis provides a definition of clinical leadership in nursing students. It will support understanding of the concept and how it is enacted in clinical placement settings.
Keywords: Clinical placement; Concept analysis; Leadership; Nursing students; Pre-registration.
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.