Trajectory of growth in Taiwanese nursing students' professional self-concept over two years and its association with critical thinking and class climate.

Abstract

Nursing is a practice-oriented profession, and the goal of education is to cultivate confidence and assertiveness for future clinical practice. Nurturing a professional self-concept at school is expecting to help students to approach their success in the nursing profession. Using a hierarchical model associated with critical thinking, academic achievement, class climate, and work experience, this longitudinal correlational study explored the growth trajectory of professional self-concept over two years in students attending 2- or 4-year baccalaureate nursing programs. This was a longitudinal and correlational study with five repeated measurements. Questionnaire data were collected by using the Chinese version of the Nurses Self-Concept Instrument (NSCI-C) and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). Scores for overall professional self-concept ranged from 84.51 (standard deviation [SD] 12.34) when the students began this study to 89.28 (SD 11.23) at graduation. Hierarchical linear modeling yielded the growth trajectory of professional self-concept was significantly associated with time (β=0.93, p<.01), CCTIDI (β=0.13, p<.001), and class climate (β=5.20, p<.01). An intraclass correlation coefficient was 55.48%. This study confirmed the positive growth trajectory of the professional self-concept in the nursing students' two academic years. The continuous development of the professional self-concept of nursing students is encouraged. Development of critical thinking through their studies, feelings of belonging in their classes, and campus culture all contributed to this trend. To construct a comprehensive hierarchical model, future investigations should use large sample sizes from various classes and conduct multisite evaluations.