Nursing students have a more negative attitude toward psychiatric practice than other practices. In particular, Korean nursing students experience increased pressure during clinical practice in psychiatric nursing due to sociocultural and institutional influences, such as prejudices, fear, and anxiety towards mental illnesses. This study aimed to conduct an investigation on students' first experiences of clinical practice in psychiatric nursing. Participants were 12 fourth year nursing students in South Korea. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and data analysis was done using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. The students' experiences of clinical practice in psychiatric nursing could be categorized into emotional fluctuation, burnout, transformation, and growth. The results of this study show that nursing students experienced emotional fluctuation and burnout at the beginning of their clinical practice in psychiatric nursing. At the end of the clinical practice, they experienced transformation and growth. The study suggests that nursing instructors and on-site staff need to interact with nursing students to understand the nature of these first experiences and support them through teaching and field guidance.
Keywords: clinical practice; nursing students; phenomenological study; psychiatric nursing.