Are Nursing Students Ready for Clinical Practice? An Evaluation of Readiness and Challenges

Abstract

Background: Clinical teaching is essential for preparing nursing students to assume professional roles, yet challenges in translating theoretical learning into practice continue to grow. Assessing students’ readiness provides insights for strengthening nursing curricula and ensuring safe, competent care.

Aim: This study examined the readiness of nursing students in Oman for future clinical practice by evaluating their confidence in essential nursing skills and related influencing factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 235 undergraduate nursing students from the Oman College of Health Sciences branches. Data were collected using the Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey (2008) via an online self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and one-way ANOVA were applied at a 5% significance level.

Results: Participants were predominantly female (76.6%), aged 22 years (65.1%), with a mean GPA of 2.84±0.34. Clinical practice was mainly acquired through study programs (85.5%). Motivations for choosing nursing included caring for others (26.4%) and helping patients cope with illness (21.3%). Overall readiness (20 items; Cronbach’s α=0.805) had a mean score of 2.71±0.34. Students reported higher readiness in career commitment, problem-solving, communication, coordination, and evidence-based practice, but lower readiness in patient safety, managing patient deterioration, ethics, end-of-life care, and documentation. Readiness negatively correlated with GPA (r = –0.160, p = 0.014), with no significant differences by age, gender, or prior experience.

Conclusion: Omani nursing students demonstrated overall acceptable readiness for clinical practice. However, gaps in patient safety, ethical decision-making, and documentation underscore the need for greater clinical integration, mentorship, and simulation-based learning. These findings have implications for curriculum reform in Oman and comparable contexts globally.