Nursing Interns Perception Regarding Their One-Year Clinical Practicum

Abstract

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to measure experiences of nursing interns in their internship period. METHODOLOGY Cross sectional study design was adopted. Total 141 Bachelors of Science in Nursing interns participated in the study from a university hospital. The structured self-administered questionnaire containing items related to organizational commitment, professional commitment, role ambiguity, role overload, workplace support and workplace bullying were used for data collection. SPSS v25.0 was used for analysis.RESULTS The mean score of organizational commitment was 3.14, 42% interns showed week commitment. Perceived ambiguity mean was 3.14, 54% reported it negative. The perception of role overload’ mean was 3.50, 66% perceived adverse effects. The professional commitment mean score was 3.06, 58% showed low commitment. Overall workplace support mean score was 3.12, colleagues 3.47 and nurse manger’s support was 2.31 lowest. Varying frequency of bullying was experienced by 90% interns. Significant difference among gender concerning organizational commitment, workplace support and workplace bullying was found (p-value <0.05). Comparison between three cohorts revealed organizational commitment, role ambiguity, role overload and professional commitment mean score decreased (P-Value < 0.05). While workplace support and bullying score remained consistent. CONCLUSION The unclear role, increased workload, perceived bullying and low support could negatively impact professional and organizational commitment. Internship program requires improvement.