GENERAL PUBLIC’S PERCEPTIONS OF NURSING STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Background: Nursing students (NS) are exposed to clinical settings during their years of studies to acquire essential skills and experiences. In order to be better-trained nurses, general public’s perceptions of NS are paramount as they affect the student nurse-patient relationship and patients’ overall care. This study allows us to better understand the attitudes general public has towards NS, hence identify factors which affect the satisfaction they have towards NS. Thus, allowing us to gather information to better improve and enhance NS training, to form a stronger student nurse-patient relationship, increasing job satisfaction of NS and hence decrease attrition rates. Aims: This study aims to explore general public’s perception of NS and discover significant socio-demographic factors that have an impact on these perceptions. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design with convenience sampling was adopted for this study to recruit 126 people who have had previous encounters with NS within any acute settings. A questionnaire with questions on sociodemographic information and attitudes towards NS was utilised to explore the perceptions towards NS. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentage and mean. Independent t-test and ANOVA were used in data analysis too. Results: Majority of participants had positive attitudes towards NS (97%). Ethnicity had a significant influence on attitudes towards care provided by NS (p=0.043). Educational qualifications had significant impact on attitudes towards communication and presence of NS (p=0.009 and p=0.035). Age was found to statistically influence grooming and communication of NS (p=0.001 and p=0.009). Conclusion: NS can better improve on themselves based on the results from this study while nursing educators can gain insights from opinions of the public to implement interventions to reinforce strengths of NS and improve on their shortcomings. This can help forge a more therapeutic student nurse-patient relationship.