Background: The use of personal smartphones is a reality in healthcare settings. Current research is allowing us to understand in what ways they help with communication and decision making at the point of care and their impact on patient safety.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to characterize the use of smartphones by nursing students, and assess their opinions about the use of such phones as a distracting factor during clinical practicum and smartphone restriction policies.

Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Participants: 234 students from one School of Nursing in Spain completed the survey in 2017.

Methods: A questionnaire was created based on various validated instruments for assessing students' use of smartphones, distraction associated with this use and the development of policies on their use during clinical practice.

Results: While 23.3% of participants admitting to using their smartphone for personal reasons at least once during their practicum, they perceived that their own level of distraction was low (6.9%). Notably, the level of distraction associated with others' smartphone use was perceived to be higher than that associated with their own use. Students' opinions about policies were significantly related to the frequency of witnessing other students and nurses being distracted (r = 0.139, p < 0.05), but not to their own distraction experiences (r = 0.114, p = 0.084).

Conclusions: Smartphones are not widely used for professional purposes among nursing students, while personal use is commonplace. Nurse educators, students and nurse mentors need to work together to introduce strategies to facilitate care delivery through the use of mobile devices but at the same time must be aware of the risks associated with distractions, including to patient safety.