Evaluation of core competence of nursing masters and its influencing factors

Abstract

Objective To explore the status quo of nursing masters' core competence and to analyze its influencing factors. Methods Totally 350 full-time schooling nursing masters from 7 universities from Shandong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Automatous Region, Jilin Province, Yunnan Province, Xinjiang Uygur Automatous Region, Tianjin Municipality and Liaoning Province and 140 nursing teachers from 5 teaching hospitals for nursing masters were selected by convenient sampling between March and October 2018. Nursing masters were investigated with the Core Competence Self-rating Scale for Nursing Masters (CCSRS-NM) , while nursing teachers were investigated with the Nurse Master-administered Rating Scale (NMARS) . A total of 350 questionnaires were distributed to the master of nursing, 332 valid questionnaires were obtained, 140 questionnaires were distributed to the teachers, and 128 valid questionnaires were obtained. SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical analyses. Multivariate linear regression analysis was employed to explore the influencing factors. Results The CCSRS-NM score of 332 nursing masters totaled (174.67±23.45) ; the total NMARS score of 128 nursing teachers was (203.10±26.85) . Univariate analysis showed that there were statistical differences in CCSRS-NM scores between nursing masters with different sex, grade, frequent presence at seminars, type of training, time of theoretical learning, published papers or not, attitude to nursing and guidance of supervisors (F/t=2.024, 7.306, 2.375, 2.534, -4.780, 3.792, 11.983, 7.454; P<0.05) ; there were statistical differences in NMARS scores between nursing teachers with different age, length of service, professional title, educational background and qualified as supervisors or not (F/t=4.305, 4.696, 6.307, 2.330, -2.226; P<0.05) . According to multivariate analysis, nursing masters' attitude to nursing, time of theoretical learning, guidance of supervisors, sex, published papers or not and grade were the factors influencing nursing masters' core competence (P<0.05) ; Length of service, professional title and qualified as supervisors or not were the influencing factors to nursing teachers' NMARS scores (P<0.01) . Conclusions The core competence of nursing masters stands at an intermediate level, and nursing teachers' evaluation is higher than nursing masters' self-evaluation. Nursing masters' core competence may be enhanced by strengthening professional attitude education, increasing time of theoretical learning, intensifying supervisors' guidance, encouraging male candidates to study as a nursing major and encouraging nursing masters to publish papers, and reinforcing the communication and exchange between students at different grades. Evaluation of nursing masters' core competence should involve teachers and supervisors with different length of service and professional title. Key words: Students, nursing; Education, graduates; Masters; Core competence; Influencing factors