Operating room nurses’ experiences of providing shadowing education to nursing students: A qualitative descriptive study

Operating room nurses increasingly provide shadowing education to nursing students within high-acuity surgical environments, yet little is known about how they experience this educational role. This qualitative descriptive study explored how operating room nurses experience providing shadowing education and the strategies they use to sustain it. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten operating room nurses at a national acute care medical centre in Japan and analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Four categories were identified: perceived cognitive workload; professional growth and identity reinforcement; organisational and workflow challenges and adaptive instructional strategies. Participants described dividing attention between patient safety, surgical workflow and student supervision, while also experiencing reflective practice and strengthened professional identity. They used deliberate strategies to integrate teaching into surgical flow without compromising safety. Findings were synthesised into a preliminary conceptual model intended to guide future development and evaluation of shadowing education in perioperative practice.