Effectiveness of a Nursing Capstone Project Course in Enhancing Nursing Student Creativity

Abstract

Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a nursing capstone project course in enhancing nursing student creativity. Design: This study involved a pre–post-test design. Methods: Samples were tested through a questionnaire on factors influencing creativity during the first and final weeks of the course. The questionnaire included questions on nursing student characteristics, abilities, barriers, and motivations. This study was conducted from September 2014 to January 2015. A total of 300 nursing students were recruited, and 150 completed the pretest and posttest, indicating a 50% return rate. Of the 150 enrolled students, more than 90% had not participated in nursing project training or conferences or conducted nursing projects. Results: The nursing students exhibited significant differences in characteristics and abilities before and after the nursing capstone project course and showed enhanced positive characteristics and creative abilities by the end of the training course. However, the factors of barriers and motivations in creativity were not significantly different. The students also failed to enhance their creative motivations. Furthermore, the results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that before the nursing capstone project course, the students perceived the strongest predictors of their creativity to be abilities and barriers; by contrast, they perceived characteristics and motivations as the strongest predictors after the course. Conclusions: The nursing capstone project course affected the influencing factors of nursing student creativity. This study thus validates the effectiveness of the 18-week nursing capstone project course in enhancing the creativity of the nursing students, as indicated by the significantly increased creativity scores after the training course compared with those before the course.