Exploring Nursing Students’ Experiences with Qualitative Analysis through Digital Workshops: A Case Study

Introduction 

In the context of Norwegian nursing education, nursing students write their bachelor thesis in the sixth and last semester. Writing a bachelor thesis is more complex than just reading the literature and attending lectures and seminars. It requires independence, however, the students have doubts and beliefs regarding their personal capabilities, motivation, and endurance in their writing process. While continuous academic guidance, support, and supervision during this writing process are important, studies exploring the use of digital workshops as an arena to enhance students’ qualitative analysis skills in the bachelor thesis is lacking.

Goals and Methods 

This case study aims to explore and describe how bachelor students experience learning qualitative analysis in their bachelor thesis.  

Between 2021 and 2023, a total of 53 sixth-semester nursing students at a mid-sized Norwegian university participated in three digital workshops, with three-week intervals, via Teams. The pedagogical approach used included an introductory lecture, followed by student presentations of their analyses, with questions and formative feedback from peers and supervisors.

Data was collected using online evaluation, field notes, and students’ reflections after each workshop session. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s five steps of thematic analysis: familiarisation, coding, generating themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and writing up.

Results

The preliminary results are summarized in an overarching theme; students' learning journey and motivation, based on the following three sub-themes: students' starting point and progression, mutual learning, and getting inspired- a boost of motivation. The results will be further elaborated at the conference.

Conclusions

This study suggests that digital workshops can enhance nursing students’ academic development and motivation during their bachelor thesis writing process. By enhancing motivational factors, educators can create more effective and engaging learning environments for nursing students learning qualitative analysis, with potential applicability beyond the case of Norwegian students.