The identification of individualized patient care planning as a core element in clinical nursing training showed the need to evaluate how nursing students perceive themselves to be prepared for implementing the concept into patient care. Ninety-five nursing students, with a mean age of 27 years, participated in this study at the end of their first theoretical block. Three questionnaires were used; 1) One questionnaire designed for the study concerning demographic data, attitudes and valuation of the theoretical education of the nursing process, 2) Rosenbaum's Self-Control Schedule, and 3) Antonowsky's Sense of Coherence test. The results showed that the students' pre-educational health care experience, which varied from one to twenty years, significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the evaluation of their preparedness for clinical training. Attitudes towards nursing research and development of nursing care were negatively correlated (p < 0.05) to their years of previous experience of health care and positively correlated to a more theoretical school background. The students' personal preparedness to develop independence varied greatly as measured by the Self-Control Schedule and the Sense of Coherence test independently of age, work experience and earlier education. It was concluded that students might be favoured by individualized study planning as a parallel model to individualized care planning.