When are night shifts effective for nursing student clinical learning? Findings from a mixed-method study design.

Background: Some nursing programmes offer night shifts for students while others do not, mainly due to the lack of evidence regarding their effectiveness on clinical learning.

Objectives: The principal aims of the study were to describe nursing students' perceptions and to explore conditions influencing effectiveness on learning processes during night shifts.

Design: An explanatory mixed-method study design composed of a cross-sectional study (primary method, first phase) followed by a descriptive phenomenological study design (secondary method, second phase) in 2015.