title: Pathology of apprenticeships for masters of nursing critical care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The increasing complexity of patient care conditions in intensive care units, along with the development of these units, has increased the need for qualified nurses and health professionals. Therefore, due to recent changes and in response to the shortage of capable nurses, a master's major in intensive care nursing has been created. One of the main challenges of this curriculum is to ensure that graduates have the required competencies. The current study aimed to explain the pathology of apprenticeships for a masters in nursing critical care.
  
  
  METHODS
  This qualitative study was conducted for masters in nursing critical care students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2014-2015. The sampling was purposeful. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 15 students. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three categories "ineffective management, unfavorable context for achieving skills, and lack of clinical instructors and sufficient competence" were extracted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preparing settings for entering students such as having an adequate training field and expert educators, providing conditions for orientation of educators and participation in the related workshops, and recruitment of experienced instructors in the apprenticeships field can increase the quality of MS levels.
authors.affiliation: Ph.D. of Nursing, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ramsar Nursing Care Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
authors.affiliation: Ph.D. of Nursing, Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nahid Dehghan
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Nayeri
authors.affiliation: M.Sc. of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ramsar Nursing Care Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Faezeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Norouzinezhad
authors.affiliation: Ph.D. of Nursing, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Alborz, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tayebi
keywords: Apprenticeship; Content analysis; Intensive care nursing; Student