Table 2.

Thems, categories, sub-categories, and meaning unites extracted from the analysis interviews

Themes	Categories	Sub-categories	Meaning unites
From contrast to alignment with professional competence	Agents of incivility behaviors	Breaking the norms	Disorderliness, not following the professional dress code, wearing incomplete uniforms, absenteeism, cheating, tardiness
		Insulting and offending	Treating the teaching staff uncivilly, annoying educators, nonacademic behaviors, inappropriate postures, making inappropriate jokes during practical training and internship, unconventional behaviors, insults or verbal violence, conflicts with peers.
		Violating the values	Deceiving the educators, lying to educators, making light of the class, disobeying educators
		Self-centeredness	Lack of coordination with the group, disagreeing, condescending behavior towards peers, disregarding others’ views, dominating the group, imposing one’s own views.
	Role models	Behavioral models	As models in respecting educators, effect on peer attitudes, the observance of ethical considerations, politeness, and behavioral maturity
		Care models	As care models, the indirect teaching of report writing As positive models for communication with patients, learning how to interact with patients from practical nurses, learning how to socialize, gaining skills in interacting with others.
		Interactional models	As positive models for communication with patients, learning how to interact with patients from practical nurses, learning how to socialize, gaining skills in interacting with others.
Peaceful coexistence in the educational process	Unequal educational atmosphere	Discrimination	Feelings of injustice in the peers, special attention paid to practical nurses by educators, trusting practical nurses more than other students, disregarding the absenteeism of practical nurses, cooperating with practical nurses, injustice in educational evaluation
		Depriving others of learning opportunities	Snatching work and responsibility from other students, disrupting others’ concentration, volunteering for performing procedures, interrupting the teaching of educators, the cancellation of the practical training sessions due to the absence of students with Practical Nursing Diplomas (PNDs).
		Establishing informal relationships with clinical nurses and educators	Establishing friendly relationships with the staff, the toleration of the unruly behaviors of students with PNDs by the staff because of previous familiarity and acquaintanceship
	Facilitating the teaching-learning process	Assistant educators	Putting students under the supervision of practical nurses if necessary, as completers of the education offered by educators, attempts at cooperation with the educators, as facilitators of the relationship between educators and ward staff, helping with the management of the practical training sessions, helping with the understanding of the materials taught by educators, acting as leaders in internship and practical training sessions, the use of the experiences of practical nurses in classes.
		Mentor	Attempting to transfer the knowledge to peers, acting as mediators in practical training sessions, working with peers, higher self-confidence of the peers in the presence of practical nurses, feelings of responsibility of practical nurses towards peers, practical nurses as supporters of students, helping the training of inexperienced students, having experience, explaining the procedures to peers, attempting to transfer learning.
		Decreasing stress and creating a secure learning environment	Peers feeling calm in the presence of practical nurses, alleviating stress, teaching others how to manage stress, getting help from practical nurses in cases of difficulty, experiencing lower stress levels in the presence of practical nurses.
		Teaching retention skills and preparation for work	Giving the needed career information to peers, explaining the difficulties of nursing, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of different wards, explaining the process finding employment, and salaries and benefits to peers, learning about the details of nursing jobs from practical nurses.
The reflection of perceived reality in the clinical environment	Neglecting the principle of learning	Passivity in learning	Not having dynamic personalities, inadequate excitement about the learning process, lack of creativity, not being eager to learn, academic stagnation of practical nurses, not being inquisitive.
		Unmotivated and demotivating	Discouraging peers, demotivating peers, transferring feelings of disillusionment to peers, unhappiness with the nursing career and expressing this unhappiness, disinterest in practical work, not applying oneself to one’s work
		Obsession with degrees and credentialism	Credentialism, studying with objectives other than learning, disregarding the grades, not having clear goals.
		Role conflict	Conflicts between current jobs and training sessions, absenteeism because of occupational engagements, being very busy, being preoccupied with personal issues rather than the academic work and training sessions, not performing the assignments because of occupational engagements.
	Belief in the theory-practice gap	Professional superficiality	Considering the scientific aspect of the procedures as unimportant, poor theoretical knowledge of practical nurses preventing them from enacting principled evidence-based nursing practices, having a superficial view toward nursing, considering the nursing process some sort of bureaucracy, disregarding theory, encouraging other students to perform just routine work, ignoring the nursing professionalism, making nursing efforts look unimportant, overlooking details, viewing care inaccurately and inexactly, performing tasks perfunctorily.
		Avoidance of rethinking	Not encouraging peers to rethink, lack of confidence in practical nurses, especially in intensive care.
		Weak knowledge-based practice	Working in an unprincipled manner, emphasizing the practical side of work, not observing aseptic principles and techniques, working shoddily, teaching peers in an unprincipled manner, emphasizing practice over theory and science.