Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the direction for the future researches in the area of nursing students in the clinical practicum by revealing trends and issues of past researches focused on this area. Data were collected from five main nursing journals in Japan, from 1994 to 1998. Using qualitative and inductive methods, contents of selected researches were coded and categorized based on the similarity of the codes. There were four hundred and thirty four research papers, and two hundred thirty two of them (53.5%) were focused on students. Contents of those two hundred thirty two researches were classified into the following five categories: 1) the influence to the students' experience by the clinical practicum, 2) the actual condition of students' learning activities, 3) the level of goal accomplishment of clinical practicum and its affectable factors, 4) students' evaluation and expectation toward their faculty teaching activities, 5) the comparison according to a nursing educational program of the influence to the students' experience by the clinical practicum and the level of goal accomplishment of clinical practicum. The results suggested the three directions for the future researches, (1) constructing conceptual framework which focused on the relationship between the variables related to students' learning activities and the level of goal accomplishment of clinical practicum, and carrying out that research, (2) clarifying the actual condition of utilizing the research findings about students' evaluation and expectation toward their faculty teaching activities, (3) identifying the general characteristics of each nursing educational program.
