PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY PARAMEDIC STUDENTS IN HOSPITAL INTERNSHIPS: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Abstract

Clinical practice / internship plays an important role in stepping into the professional career of students studying in the field of health. This study was carried out to determine the problems faced by students studying First and Emergency Aid Program (FEAP) in a public university in hospital internship practices. The study was made with a total of 36 students, 22 of whom were women and 14 were men, who agreed to participate in the study. “Case Study” pattern, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. An open-ended question was asked to the participants to identify the problems they encountered during the clinical practice in hospital. In order to ensure confidentiality in the research, participants were given code (S1, S2…). The answers were resolved according to the given codes. As a result of the analysis, 3 main and 3 intermediate themes emerged. As a result of the study, it was observed that there were problems such as the number of cases and patients were few, the high number of students who were trained, the employees were not enough role models for the students, the students were assigned duties other than medical applications, and there were problems related to nutrition and access to the internship institution. Elimination of the problems faced by students in clinical practice / internship has an important place in gaining professional competencies.