Purpose: This study aimed to explore the practical experience of nursing graduates through a clinical practicum alternative program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants in this study comprised sixteen students who had gone through clinical field practice and clinical alternative programs during 4 semesters at nursing college. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews and analyzed via the phenomenological research method developed by Colaizzi. Results: From the meaningful statements offered by the participants, six theme clusters emerged: (a) interest in new experiences, (b) practice that doesn’t feel like practice, (c) limits on yourself, (d) ambivalence about alternative programs, (e) longing for vivid clinical settings, and (f) choice in an unavoidable situation. Conclusion: This study provides a profound understanding of the practical experiences of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic situation about the clinical practicum alternative program. Based on this study, it is necessary to determine how students who have participated in the implementation of the clinical practice alternative program are adapting to the actual field as nurses. It is also necessary to develop various programs that reflect the needs of students and utilize technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and metaverse along with current teaching methods.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of learner-directed debriefing based on the clinical judgement model (LDCJM) on nursing students’ critical thinking disposition, selfdirected learning, problem-solving ability, and debriefing experience after simulation. Method: This study used a quasi-experimental design with 38 sophomore nursing students from one university. They were divided into an experimental group (n=20) and a control group (n=18). Collected data were analyzed by the Chi-square, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test using the WIN SPSS 22.0 program. Results: The experimental group that had participated in the LDCJM indicated significantly higher self-directed learning (U=23.50, p<.001), problem-solving ability (U=94.50 p=.011), and debriefing experience (U=87.00, p=.006) when compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results indicate that LDCJM is an effective learning strategy to improve self-directed learning, problem-solving ability, and debriefing experience. Further study is needed to identify the effects of various debriefing skills.