Table 1.

The sample of data analysis for emerging of sub-category of defensive/protective behaviors

Category	Sub-category	Main concepts	Sample codes	Sample quote
Self-presentation	Defensive/protective behaviors	Excuses and justifications	Comparing your performance with other nurses to explain the cause of the error Justifying your wrong performance in the simultaneous injection of drugs	The student put all the medications in the microset, assuming that I didn't understand what he was doing. When I questioned him about why he arranged the medications in that way, he claimed that all nurses work like that and there is no issue with it
		Non-acceptance of error/Denial of error	Not accepting responsibility for mistake in the patient’s venipuncture Failure to accept the student's ignorance of the basic principles of venipuncture	I demonstrated to the student the proper places where the vein can be accessed for the patient, and I advised him to adjust the angle of insertion. However, he forcefully inserted the needle into the vein, and when I pointed out that the angle was not correct, he insisted that there was nothing wrong with his technique. He refused to acknowledge his mistake and showed a lack of knowledge in the proper technique for inserting a needle
		Underestimate of error	Underestimating one's own mistakes compared to the mistakes of others Underestimating the importance of error on the patient's prognosis by the student	Some educators in clinical settings focus excessively on minor details of our work, such as the process of preparing a syringe or cleaning the injection area, while neglecting to address more important issues, such as the non-sterile dressing of open wounds by ward nurses. Does it have a greater impact on patient outcomes or our work? I believe that our minor mistakes have little impact and can be overlooked
		Self-handicapping before performing procedures	Saying negative sentences before the procedure Excessive expression of anxiety by the student before the procedure	Before beginning to draw blood and even before applying the tourniquet, the student expressed a lot of anxiety. He claimed that the patient's vein was in a difficult location and that he was concerned about breaking it
		Projection	Blaming the lab staff for leaving bed side rail down Attributing one's own negligence to others	Our classmate lowered the side rail of the patient's bed, causing the elderly patient to almost fall due to loss of balance. Fortunately, the patient did not fall. When confronted about this, our classmate claimed that it was not his responsibility and that the laboratory staff had left the side rail down when they took the patient's blood. However, I was present in the same room at the time and did not observe anyone else enter the room to take the patient's blood