48^th Global Nursing & Healthcare Conference

Biography

Biography: Hala Mohamed Bayoumy

Abstract

Background: Learning engagement and its relationship with academic achievement is one of the new growing areas in academic research which aims at improving students’ quality of learning. Significantly, engagement is considered as an important component of nursing education and it is strongly believed that higher levels of engagement provide more information and better understanding which in turn, prepare graduates who are capable of providing higher standards of care (D’Souza, et al., 2013). A nursing student’s level of engagement has a critical influence on their learning, clinical care interactions, and ultimately, ongoing retention within the nursing profession. In fact, evidence suggests that student’s engagement during college is positively correlated with post-college labor market earnings (Hu & Wolniak, 2013). However, scarce amount of research work has been conducted within this scope. Moreover, the contextual variables that influence students’ engagement and motivation are varied and the link between engagement and motivation and academic attainment is uncertain. The current study, therefore, is conducted to address and explore the state of the relationship of learning engagement and motivation among nursing students and impact do this possible association have on students’ academic performance. The study also seeks an answer to the question of whether do students’ characteristics have any effect on their perceived learning engagement, their motivation and academic performance. The findings of the current study should be used to assess potentials for curricular development and design adjustments which could impact students’ learning.

Methods: A descriptive survey design, with a comparative correlational approach for data analysis was utilized to describe and compare levels of engagement in undergraduate nursing students. Moreover, factors associated with the motivation, academic engagement and performance of students enrolled in the baccalaureate-nursing program, were examined. A multi-course, multi-site survey study design was utilized in order to gain access to wide variety of students, and to improve generalizability of the research findings. Data was collected from the three campuses of King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, Jeddah and AlAhsa. Study instruments utilized for data collection, included the sociodemographic and education-related background sheet, student’s college and clinical engagement scales, motivation and academic achievement questionnaires. Validity and reliability was ensured through utilizing a nursing panel of experts and internal consistency analysis.

Results: Overall mean knowledge score was 7.68 ±2.07. Nursing students showed significantly higher knowledge than medical students (p=0.028). More nursing than medical students believed in the effectiveness of placebo (pË‚0.001). Medical students had a stronger belief that placebo effect is mental while nursing students believed it is both mental and physiologic (pË‚0.006). They also agreed that placebo intervention involves deception. Concerning placebo attitude, medical students significantly pointed that it should be prohibited but also significantly permitted if research supports its use (pË‚0.001).

Conclusion: This study focused on three aspects of engagement: behavioural, emotional, and cognitive. The reason is that they are well-defined, highly studied, conceptually distinct and highly constructive student classroom experiences that collectively represent the range of educationally important engagement constructs. Efforts was directed towards clarifying not only indicators of students’ engagement but also some specific facilitating conditions (e.g., engagement-fostering aspects of the classroom environment, students’ motivation) and engagement-related which is learning, achievement.

This paper is significant as there is a lack of knowledge as regards to bachelor nursing students’ impact of engagement levels and motivations. It is hoped that the findings of this study could be used as a quality indicator for guiding current efforts in renovating nursing education programs and achieving excellence in nursing education.

Keywords: Nursing students, engagement, motivation, academic achievement.