Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Dec 2020)
Perceptions of Caring Behavior Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Three-Cohort Observational Study
Abstract
Paola Ferri,1 Serena Stifani,2 Elena Morotti,2 Maria Nuvoletta,3 Loris Bonetti,4 Sergio Rovesti,1 Anna Cutino,5 Rosaria Di Lorenzo6 1Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena 41125, Italy; 2School of Nursing, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena 41124, Italy; 3Occupational Medicine, Maserati SPA, Modena 41121, Italy; 4Nursing Research and Development Unit, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland, Bellinzona 6500, Switzerland; 5Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena 41124, Italy; 6Psychiatric Intensive Treatment Facility, Mental Health and Drug Abuse Department of AUSL-Modena, Modena 41122, ItalyCorrespondence: Paola FerriDepartment of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via Campi, 287, Modena 41125, ItalyEmail [email protected]: Increase in the knowledge of “caring science” among nurses plays a key role in ensuring a correct caring behavior towards patients. Caring training for students is a priority in nursing education, but unfortunately there are limited and conflicting studies which explore this outcome. The purpose of this observational study was to explore the perceptions of caring behaviors by nursing students during their clinical practice training in order to highlight if the level of caring behaviors changes as the nursing course progresses.Materials and Methods: The Caring Behaviors Inventory-24 (CBI-24) was administered to 331 students, enrolled in the three years of an Italian Nursing Course, who accepted to participate in the study (89.2% response rate). The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).Results: The total mean score of CBI-24 was 4.82 in the first, 5.12 in the second and 5.26 in the third-year students. The CBI-24 dimensions “Responding to individual needs” and “Being with” obtained the highest scores among the students of the first year. At the end of the first year, our students were already able to perform expressive caring, whereas instrumental caring developed at a high level in the second and third years. We did not highlight any statistically significant difference between the two gender CBI-24 item scores.Conclusion: In light of our results, we put in evidence that Nursing Degree Programme favours the development in students of both relational and technical components of caring behaviors. We hope that in future students’ self-assessment of caring behaviors could be considered an educational outcome for Nursing Programme.Keywords: Caring Behaviors Inventory, caring, expressive caring, instrumental caring, nursing education, nursing students
