Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify nursing students' handling of patient information in clinical practicums,the types of problems that occur, and the type of guidance that is thought to be necessary for these problems. The method of research was semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 faculty members in charge of practical nursing instruction. Problems were extracted from analysis of the transcriptions. The problems in students' handling of patient information were classified into three categories: 1) problems outside the practice sites, 2) problems regarding students themselves, and 3) problems in conference. The guidance required so that these problems do not occur was classified into three categories: 1) improvement of students' understanding and/or consciousness of information privacy, 2) construction of management procedures, and 3) measures against problems. The necessity for painstaking guidance was suggested. A teaching situation was also seen in which a variety of teaching methods are being tried by individual instructors and universities with consideration of learning effectiveness. The findings suggest that creation of unified guidelines, in which consensus is obtained regarding necessary educational content, is an urgent task.
