challenges of teaching clinical skills in pediatrics ward to nursing students: a review study

Background and objective: teaching clinical skills to nursing students in pediatrics faces numerous challenges due to the specific characteristics of patients, complexities of care, and communication sensitivities. the aim of this review study is to investigate and analyze the most important barriers and challenges in clinical education in pediatrics for undergraduate nursing students.methods: this study was conducted using a narrative review method and a structured search in the pubmed, scopus, web of science, sid, magiran, and google scholar databases. articles published between 2017 and 2024 that examined the challenges of clinical education in pediatric nursing at the undergraduate level were selected and analyzed. a total of 35 articles were reviewed based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria.results: the results showed that the challenges of clinical education in pediatrics include students’ anxiety and fear, difficulty in communicating with children and families, lack of experienced instructors, limited clinical learning opportunities, weaknesses in curriculum design, emotional pressures, and lack of educational infrastructure. these barriers are effective at individual (lack of self-confidence and anxiety, poor communication skills, lack of motivation and sufficient commitment), environmental (lack of practical opportunities, inappropriate clinical environment, hectic schedule, and high work pressure), organizational (lack of specialized and experienced instructors, lack of proper planning of clinical training), and cultural (cultural attitudes towards children and their care, cultural differences between the student and the child’s family) levels.conclusion: improving the quality of clinical education in pediatrics requires reviewing educational programs, improving the capabilities of educators, using modern teaching-learning methods, and creating safe and collaborative clinical environments. the findings of this study can be a guide for educational planners and policymakers in the field of nursing education.