Self-confidence and feelings at the beginning of clinical nursing experience among second year nursing students

Self-confidence is an essential mediating construct of clinical practice achievement, affecting competency among nursing students. This study aimed to determine levels of self-confidence concerning basic nursing procedures, identify factors related to self-confidence and explore feelings at the first period of clinical experiences among second year nursing students.

A combined quantitative and qualitative approach design conducted using cross-sectional time series surveyed the self-confidence level of 134 second-year nursing students on basic nursing procedures before, mid and after training at medical and surgical units. Text expression the feelings and thoughts regarding the first period of practice were explored before and after training.

Before training, students reported moderate and high confident levels at 78.4 and 11.2%, respectively. Mid practice, high confidence increased to 47.8%. After training, high confidence was up to 64.9%, followed by moderate level 35.1%. Mean scores of self-confidences significantly differed among the three times of nursing practice. Grade of a theoretical course of basic nursing for dependent chronic patients was significantly associated with self-confidence. Before training, positive feelings (happy and enthusiastic) and negative feelings (worried, anxious and low confidence) were expressed. After practicing, positive feelings (relaxing, delightful, and proud to be a part of patients’ recovery) and positive thoughts (gaining knowledge and experiences, increasing self-confidence, enabling to integrate and apply knowledge to practice, revising and rehearsing nursing procedures, improving communication skills, and gaining introspective self-control) resulted.

Self-confidence concerning basic nursing procedures was increased by times of clinical experiences. Grade of a theoretical course of basic nursing was associated with self-confidence. Both positive and negative feelings occurred before training, and positive feelings and attitudes resulted after training. Evaluation of nursing students’ confidence remains necessary in nursing education and contributes to students’ competency for measuring yearly progression and learning achievement.