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  Nursing students’ perceptions of their educational environment: A Comparison between expected and actual environment     Mohamadpour Y * [1] , Habibzadeh H [2] , Khalilzadeh H [3] , Pakpour V [4] , Jafarizadeh H [5] , Rafiee H [6] ,   Ashraf Rezaee N [7]   Received: 25 April, 2010 Accepted: 27 July, 2010   Abstract   Background & Aims : Clinical learning environment has an important role in clinical learning of nursing students. Differences between expected and actual clinical learning environment of nursing student reduces their interest in clinical environment and clinical performance. Therefore, the aim of present study was to compare the perception of nursing students of expected and actual clinical learning environment in medical-surgical wards.   Materials & Methods : This descriptive-longitudinal study was conducted 75 baccalaureate nursing students from Urmia nursing & midwifery faculty. In the beginning of the semester, the expected perception of their clinical environment was determined and in the end of semester the actual perception of students of their clinical environment was determined again. For data analysis, clinical learning environment inventory was used that contain 49 item in six areas. Data analysis was conducted by SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics.   Results: The findings showed that the average score of nursing students’ perception of expected clinical learning environment was 154.89 ± 14.05 and the average score of nursing students’ perception of actual clinical learning environment was 108.41 ± 12.78. The dependent sample t-test showed that there were statistical differences between actual and expected perception on nursing students regarding clinical learning environment.   Conclusion : The gap between nursing students’ perception of expected and actual clinical learning environment may have negative effects on their clinical learning. This indicates that nursing education managers should further attend to clinical learning environment of nursing students.   Keywords: Nursing education, Clinical education, Clinical learning environment    Address Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran   Tel: +989148056259   Email: yousef.nurse@gmail.com   [1] Instructor of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, U rmia, Iran (Corresponding Author)  [2] Assistant Professor of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, U rmia, Iran   [3] Instructor of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, U rmia, Iran   [4] Instructor of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan , Iran   [5] Instructor of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, U rmia, Iran   [6] Instructor of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, U rmia, Iran   [7] BSc in Midwifery, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran

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Background & Aims: Clinical education is a dynamic process and an essential part of nursing education. The clinical learning environment plays a vital role in shaping the professional skills of nursing students. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perception of clinical learning environment and clinical competence in nursing students of Urmia University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Materials & Methods: This descriptive correlational study was conducted on 150 nursing students of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. The nurses were selected by random sampling method. Data were collected using the questionnaires of clinical learning environment and clinical competence. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16. Results: The results showed that the mean scores of clinical learning environment and clinical competence of nursing students were 196.06 ± 16.42 and 135.46 ± 21.71, respectively. Pearson correlation test showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between perception of clinical learning environment and clinical competence (p