Background & objectives: Clinical education plays a fundamental role in forming basic skills and professional competencies for operating room students. Understanding students’ perspectives on clinical training can help us to improve the quality of their clinical performance in the future. This study was conducted to assess the present status of clinical education from perspectives of operating room students in Ardabil University of Medical Sciences.

Methods:�A descriptive and cross-sectional design was used to carry out the study in 2014. Using consensus sampling method, 96 operating room students from the school of nursing and midwifery were involved in the study. Data gathering tool consisted of demographic data form and a researcher made questionnaire for assessing the viewpoints of students about clinical education. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS v.16.

Results: Most of the students were female (66.7%) and most of them believed the main factors influencing the quality of clinical training were “teachers did not trust on their students in clinical practices” (60.4%), “hospital personnel were not familiar with professional ethics” (42.7%) and “negative attitude of students towards their profession” (39.6%).

Conclusion: According to the findings, accurate and concise implementation of the curriculum, providing appropriate educational atmosphere and giving awareness to instructors and hospital personnel about their responsibility regarding students and their duties may improve the quality of clinical education.