Nursing students need to demonstrate that they can perform effectively in the affective domain as well as the cognitive and psychomotor domains. Clinical educators and preceptors report that the affective domain is the area that is most problematic when assessing students. According to the research literature the problem is not restricted to nursing and is found in much of the health and education literature.

A variety of terms were found in the literature, all referring to problems within the affective domain, yet there seems to be no general organisation scheme for these problems. Using insights from the literature this paper proposes that clustering the various affective issues under the headings of presentation, preparedness and interaction may assist nursing students to understand what is required of them and may aid clinical educators and preceptors in assessing the student with respect to the affective domain.