Student voice in curriculum making

Undergraduate student nurses (n = 117) were asked to reflect critically on their psychiatric clinical learning experience and identify strengths and w eaknesses not only in the actions and behaviors of others, but also in thei r own. A questionnaire was specifically constructed to encourage the voicin g of issues, concerns, actions, and behaviors that centered around the conc ept of quality in relation to four predetermined categories: clinical pract ice, clinical nursing staff, clinical facilitators, and students. Themes, i nductively derived from the collected information within each category were organized into clusters and then into frequency distributions to facilitat e interpretation. The study generated information that should be useful in planning and supervising effective and mutually satisfying clinical practic ums in any psychiatric context. Moreover, the responses gave voice to matte rs that otherwise may have gone unrecognized in the curriculum. The study c onfirms that student voice must become an integral part of the alternatives from which curriculum-making choice is made.