First-year nursing students' perceptions of health activism and social responsibility — A cross sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundSocial responsibility and health activism both represent key concepts and professional values in nursing practice. Nevertheless, definitions in the nursing literature remain inconsistent, and little is known regarding nursing students' perceptions of these concepts or about the associations between these perceptions. ObjectivesThis research explores: a) the associations between nursing students' perceptions of social responsibility and health activism; and b) the differences in nursing students' perceptions of social responsibility and health activism according to their personal characteristics. Design and methodsAcross-sectional survey design was conducted with a sample of 173 Israeli first-year undergraduate nursing students. Questions were uploaded in the format provided by a commercial Internet survey provider (Qualtrics.com) and distributed through social media groups. ResultsPositive correlations were found between health activism and social responsibility and between health activism and philanthropic and environmental responsibility. Significant differences were found in the research variables according to the students' cultural group and voluntary service. Cultural group and social responsibility explained 25 % of students' variance in health activism. ConclusionsFaculty and nurse educators should promote and develop nursing students' knowledge acquisition in health activism and social responsibility throughout all their years of study. It is recommended that nursing students be given meaningful opportunities to discuss, integrate, and apply health activism, guided by role models in clinical practice. Academic settings should also promote the value of social responsibility and support nursing students in taking active roles in social organizations in order to further develop and integrate the social component of their professional role.