Postgraduate nursing students’ experiences of expressing concerns in supervisory relationships
Yue Xiang, Haoning Shi, Keke Ren, Xilin Yang, Lin Li, Qinghua Zhao, Huanhuan HuangBackground
Power imbalances between supervisors and students can hinder graduate students from expressing concerns, potentially affecting academic progress and well-being. This issue may be more pronounced in nursing education due to the hierarchical culture.
Aim
Drawing on boundary work theory, this study explores postgraduate nursing students’ experiences of expressing concerns in power-imbalanced supervisory relationships, and examines whether informal peer support serves as an alternative channel when formal supervisory communication is constrained.
Design
A descriptive qualitative design was employed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Participants and research context
Between November 2025 and January 2026, 18 postgraduate nursing students were recruited from four universities in Sichuan and Chongqing, China.
Ethical considerations
Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (Approval Number: 2026-0423-01).
Results
Three main themes were identified: (1) Attempting formal feedback: exploring and defining supervisor-student boundaries; (2) Encountering obstacles in formal feedback: the narrowing and reinforcement of supervisor-student boundaries; (3) Shifting to informal peer support: alternative expressions within constrained boundaries.
Conclusion
Postgraduate nursing students commonly experience dissatisfaction in supervisory relationships. Within power-imbalanced contexts, their expression of concerns is often constrained and redirected toward informal peer support. The interviews indicate that peer support can provide emotional support and advice, but it does not fully address the underlying issues. Therefore, it is necessary to foster a more open and egalitarian communication climate among supervisors and to improve institutional feedback and communication mechanisms at the school level.