2025/05/20 by Dellafiore, Federica, Artioli, Giovanna
#Medicine and Health Sciences #clinical practice #education #health promotion #nursing students #qualitative research.
paper · doi:10.17605/osf.io/wcs2e
Background. Nurses plays a crucial role in Health Promotion (HP) Policy and in encouraging healthy behaviors. However, challenges persist in effectively integrating HP as a core component of healthcare systems and nursing practice. Therefore, it is essential to develop specialized and advanced competencies in nursing students, incorporate HP into nursing academic curricula, and better understand the factors influencing nursing students’ development of these competencies - an area that remain underexplored. Accordingly, this study explores and describes the factors nursing students perceive as essential in developing competencies in health promotion (HP) and in fulfilling their role as health promoters. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using reflexive thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 nursing students. Results: Five main themes emerged: (1) the need for better HP training, (2) challenges in allocation time for HP in clinical practice, (3) variability of professional awareness about HP, (4) patient reluctance to adopt healthier lifestyles, and (5) difficulties in managing lifestyle changes. Key facilitators included strong mentorship and well-structured educational programs; Barriers included insufficient clinical exposure and time constraints. Additionally, students emphasized the need for HP to be a core aspect of nursing curricula. While acknowledge existing obstacles, participants also identify practical solutions that could be integrated into training and practice to enhance the impact of HP in nursing care. Conclusions: The study highlights significant gaps in HP education for nursing students and the need for curriculum reforms to better prepare as health promoters. Future research should consider the perspectives of clinical mentors and evaluate the effectiveness of innovative teaching methods- such as simulations-based training- in strengthening students’ HP competencies. Keywords: health promotion, nursing students, education, clinical practice, qualitative research.