Learning experiences and coping strategies of nursing students in the face of clinical errors

• There are many reasons for the occurrence of clinical errors in nursing students, such as poor training of students and their negligence. • Fear of being punished is one of the feelings of students after a clinical error. • Resorting to prayer and worship is one of actions that students do after clinical error. Error reporting in clinical settings is a significant challenge for nursing students also understanding the nature of these errors is crucial for implementing corrective interventions that enhance patient safety. This study investigates nursing students' learning experiences and coping strategies in the face of errors in clinical settings. This research was a qualitative content analysis study. Participants were purposefully selected, and data were acquired through semi-structured interviews. Thirteen students participated in the study and five themes were extracted from the data analysis: causes of errors, emotional responses after errors, actions taken after errors, barriers to error reporting, and error prevention strategies. The findings indicated several factors that contributed to the occurrence of clinical errors experienced by nursing students. Students may also resort to ineffective coping mechanisms and avoid reporting errors. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and implement measures to prevent clinical errors and create effective coping mechanisms in case of these errors to support nursing students and increase patient safety.