Impact of critical thinking disposition, general self-efficacy, and leadership on clinical competence in nursing students

Relationship between critical thinking disposition and research competence among clinical nurses: A cross-sectional study

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To explore the relationship between critical thinking disposition and research competence among clinical nurses.

BACKGROUND

The development of the nursing discipline and evidence-based practice calls for research competence and critical thinking disposition among clinical nurses. The verification of the relationship between critical thinking disposition and research competence could make contributions to promoting related knowledge building and providing practical implications for nurses, nurse educators and nurse managers. However, there is a lack of evidence exploring the relationship between critical thinking disposition and research competence in clinical nurses.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A total of 156 clinical nurses from two tertiary hospitals participated in this study. The Chinese Version of Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and Research Competence Scale for Clinical Nurses were used to measure critical thinking disposition and nursing research competence, respectively. Data were collected in September 2017. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation and linear regression were used to analyse data. The STROBE checklist was used in reporting this study.

RESULTS

The clinical nurses surveyed showed a positive inclination to general critical thinking but reported an overall low level of nursing research competence. A moderate degree of positive correlation was found between critical thinking disposition and research competence among clinical nurses. Educational degree was also found as an influencing factor of nursing research competence of clinical nurses.

CONCLUSION

The critical thinking disposition of clinical nurses is positively related to their research competence.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Nurses with a passion for nursing research should pay attention to improving their critical thinking dispositions. Nurse educators and managers should provide better learning, working and research environments and more supports to cultivate critical thinking disposition and improve nursing research competence in nursing research education and practice.

Critical Thinking Disposition of Nurse Practitioners in Taiwan

BACKGROUND

Critical thinking disposition (CTD) is crucial for nurse practitioners who face complex patient care scenarios. This study explored the CTD of nurse practitioners and related factors.

METHOD

The study was a cross-sectional descriptive design. A purposive sample was recruited from a medical center and its hospital branches in central Taiwan. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 210 nurse practitioners.

RESULTS

The participants obtained the highest average score on systematicity and analyticity. CTD had a significant positive correlation with fundamental knowledge readiness, professional knowledge readiness, and confidence in making clinical decisions. Professional knowledge readiness, education level, and on-the-job training predicted the score of the participants on overall CTD.

CONCLUSION

On-the-job training and education level may influence the CTD of nurse practitioners. Providing formal or on-the-job continuing education training to nurse practitioners may help enhance their CTD. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(9):425-430.

The development and psychometric testing of a Disaster Response Self-Efficacy Scale among undergraduate nursing students

BACKGROUND

Disaster nurse education has received increasing importance in China. Knowing the abilities of disaster response in undergraduate nursing students is beneficial to promote teaching and learning. However, there are few valid and reliable tools that measure the abilities of disaster response in undergraduate nursing students.

OBJECTIVES

To develop a self-report scale of self-efficacy in disaster response for Chinese undergraduate nursing students and test its psychometric properties.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS

Nursing students (N=318) from two medical colleges were chosen by purposive sampling.

METHODS

The Disaster Response Self-Efficacy Scale (DRSES) was developed and psychometrically tested. Reliability and content validity were studied. Construct validity was tested by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was tested by internal consistency and test-retest reliability.

RESULTS

The DRSES consisted of 3 factors and 19 items with a 5-point rating. The content validity was 0.91, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.912, and the intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.953. The construct validity was good (χ²/df=2.440, RMSEA=0.068, NFI=0.907, CFI=0.942, IFI=0.430, p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The newly developed DRSES has proven good reliability and validity. It could therefore be used as an assessment tool to evaluate self-efficacy in disaster response for Chinese undergraduate nursing students.