BMC Medical Education (05/09/26) Xia, Lijuan; Chen, Sujuan; Ma, Yuan; et al.

Strengthening specialist nursing capacity in resource-limited county hospitals requires structured, practice-integrated training and sustainable professional development pathways, research shows. Using a descriptive qualitative design, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 participants (15 trainees and 11 trainers) and analyzed them through Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis following the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guidelines. Participants consistently described misalignment between current training content and real clinical demands, insufficient support for safe routine practice, and limited supervised skill development. Trainers reported inadequate preparation and scarce educational resources, leading to overly didactic teaching and inconsistent training quality that may undermine patient-safety competencies. Both groups emphasized the need for a structured, progressive framework embedded in clinical practice, with clearly defined competency stages, context-relevant content, experiential learning such as case discussions and supervised practice, and attention to psychological support, humanistic care, and lifelong-learning skills. Faculty development and standardized teaching materials were viewed as essential to ensuring consistent, safe practice standards.

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