Investigation of Professional Competence Perceptions and Related Factors of Nursing Students Who Made Internship Through Distance Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic Process

Abstract

Aim: This study was conducted to examine the self-assessments of senior nursing students who completed their internship through distance education in the first period of the COVID-19 Pandemic, regarding their professional competencies, and the factors affecting these evaluations. Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 75 students studying in the fourth year in the faculty of health sciences, nursing department of a university in the spring semester of 2019-2020. The data collected through 'Introductory Information Form' and ''The Competency Inventory of Nursing Students''. Descriptive tests, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used in the analyses. Results: It was determined that Nursing Students Competency Scale total score mean was 261.8 (SD=26.9), the highest mean score was 6.58 (SD=0.58) in the ethics and responsibility sub-dimension, and the lowest mean score was 4.92 (SD=1.18) in the clinical biomedical science sub-dimension. It was determined that there was a significant difference between some demographic characteristics such as gender, age, graduated high school, family income level, academic average and scale total and sub-dimension scores (p<0.05). Conclusion: At the end of the internship through distance education, it has been determined that students see their professional competencies at a good level, and they are reasonable and consistent in their evaluations. In addition, it has been determined that situations such as job enjoyment, choosing the profession willingly, professional experience and academic performance affect the perception of professional competence.

Keywords

• pandemic
• covid-19
• nursing students
• baccalaureate nursing education
• professional competence
• internship