'Conducting Research Amidst Hustle and Bustle': A Qualitative Study of the Research Challenges Faced by Part-Time Nursing Postgraduates.

Abstract

Aim: To explore the research challenges and experiences faced by part-time postgraduate nursing students and reveal the underlying reasons behind these challenges.

Design: A descriptive qualitative study design was applied in this study.

Methods: Fourteen part-time postgraduate nursing students were recruited using a combination of purposeful sampling and snowball sampling. Data were collected via in-depth semi structured interviews and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies (COREQ): 32-item checklist was used to report this study.

Results: Two main themes and six subthemes were identified. The first theme revealed that part-time postgraduate nursing students 'conducting research amidst hustle and bustle'. Conflicting commitments, time and space constraints that weakened interpersonal research support, and difficulty in meditating on research were the main challenges they faced in the research process. The second theme described part-time postgraduate nursing students' experiences of 'perplexity' about nursing research, including differences from expectations, self-doubt and a painful process. Compared to full-time postgraduate nursing students, part-time postgraduate nursing students faced unique research challenges that impacted their physical, mental and academic completion. Students, nursing educators and healthcare facility administrators should be aware of these challenges and experiences, and all three should work together to address them. Part-time postgraduate nursing students need to improve their time management and other skills to ensure learning engagement and efficiency. Nursing educators should guide students through transformative learning at critical junctures for research challenges. Collaboration between schools and healthcare organisations to create supportive environments for part-time postgraduate nursing students needs to be further explored.

Patient or public contribution: One interviewee participated in the design of the interview guide, and 14 part-time postgraduate nursing students expressed their challenges and experiences in the nursing research process. Thanks to them for sharing, enabling researchers to access the data and analyse it.