Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Challenges in the Public Health Nursing Practicum: A Qualitative Study

Background: Community health nurses have an important role to play in promoting public health. This study attempted to explore the stakeholders’ perceptions of challenges in the public health nursing practicum in Iran. Methods: This qualitative study was carried out in some schools of nursing and health centers in Iran from October 2015 to September 2017. Twenty-three participants, including faculty members of public health nursing, nursing students, home nurses, experts in health centers, and nursing education policymakers were selected by purposeful sampling. Data were collected using individual interviews and were analyzed by Lundman and Graneheim’s method of content analysis. Results: Three themes resulted from the data analysis, including organizational challenges (with sub-categories of “inappropriate implementation of the curriculum due to lack of authority”, “the treatment-centeredness of health care system”, and “limited fields for nursing practicum”), educational challenges (with sub-categories of “shortcomings of educational curricula” and “the duration and time of practicums”), and workforce challenges (with sub-categories of “the financial burden of public health nursing practicum”, “lack of job position for public health nurses”, and “factors related to the role of instructors”). Conclusion: Senior managers, community health center administrators, and educational planners can use the challenges and barriers raised in this study to make more appropriate planning for the training of nursing students in public health nursing practicum.