Lasting impact of undergraduate operating room shadowing on novice nurses: a ChatGPT-supported qualitative study

Operating room (OR) shadowing allows nursing students to observe high-stakes teamwork and clinical decision-making. However, the emotional and professional impact of such experiences on novice nurses remains underexplored. This qualitative study explored how a single episode of OR shadowing during undergraduate clinical training influenced novice nurses' emotional responses and professional development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six novice nurses within their first year of clinical practice. Transcripts were analyzed using a ChatGPT-assisted thematic and sentiment analysis approach. Semantic clustering and emotion-frequency visualizations were also applied to enhance interpretive transparency. Six superordinate themes and 19 subthemes were identified: (1) Communication and Teamwork, (2) Holistic and Empathetic Care, (3) Patient Safety and Ethical Awareness, (4) Professional Identity and Role Formation, (5) Skill Development and Clinical Preparedness, and (6) Transformative and Experiential Learning. Participants expressed a range of emotions—most notably respect, gratitude, admiration, and growth—which were strongly associated with reflections on ethical practice, role modeling, and future aspirations. Visualization techniques revealed that emotionally resonant experiences were often thematically clustered, suggesting shared meaning structures across participants. Despite the brevity of the experience, many participants described lasting effects on their clinical attitudes, ethical awareness, and self-concept as nurses. A single OR shadowing experience during undergraduate education can evoke deep emotional responses and support early professional identity formation among novice nurses. The integration of structured reflection or guided debriefing may enhance these effects. Findings support the inclusion of observational experiences, even brief ones, in undergraduate nursing curricula as a means to cultivate ethical sensitivity, interprofessional awareness, and reflective practice.