Missed Nursing Care Perceived by Chinese Nursing Students During Clinical Internship: A Cross-sectional Study

Aim

To determine the extent of missed nursing care during clinical internships and explore its predictors among nursing students.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 17 to June 25, 2024. Participants were fulltime nursing students during their internship period in hospitals of two provinces in China. Measurements included demographics, the MISSCARE survey, the professional identity scale for nursing students, and the Maslach burnout inventory general survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive, Spearman’s correlation, and generalized linear regression analysis.

Results

A total of 571 nursing students were included in this study. The prevalence of missed nursing care ranged from 2.6% to 9.3%, which is at a low level. The top three ranked missing nursing care were timely bed change, turning every 2 hours, and diet guidance. The three lowest prevalence of missing nursing care were measure vital signs, bedside blood glucose test, and responding to call bell. The primary reasons for missing nursing care were staffing shortages, patient surges, and non-nursing tasks. Regression analysis showed that grade level, department rotations, training frequency, burnout, and professional identity significantly influenced missed nursing care.

Conclusion

Nursing students experienced low levels of missed nursing care during clinical internship. A link was identified between missed care and clinical experience, professional identity, burnout, unit rotation, and training frequency. Cite this article as: Wang, G., & Jiang, H. (2026). Missed nursing care perceived by Chinese nursing students during clinical internship: a cross-sectional study. Florence Nightingale Journal of Nursing, 34, 0274, doi: 10.5152/FNJN.2026.25274.