The Clinical Instructors' Caring Behavior as Perceived by Nursing Students of Selected Medical Schools in China

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate nursing students’ perceptions of the clinical instructors’ caring behavior. The researchers tried to examine the role of socio-demographic profile in terms of age, gender, and year level in relation to the respondents’ caring behavior perceptions. This descriptive correlational study used a thirty (30) item questionnaire as the main gathering tool. The said questionnaire was distributed to 72 nursing students who were enrolled at selected medical schools in China for the 2022-2023 academic year. Data results were statistically analysed and interpreted using appropriate statistical tools, including the Percentage-Frequency Distribution Method, the Weighted Mean Formula and the Chi-Square Test. The results showed that the majority of the respondents belonged to the age bracket of 20-25 years (46, 63.9%), most were females (58, 80.6%), and there were more third year (junior) nursing students (29, 40.3%). This suggested that the majority of the nursing students studying at the selected medical schools were females, aged between 20-25 years and there were more junior students compared to sophomores and seniors. Results of the questionnaire revealed that with the average mean score of 2.72 in level 2 (sophomores), 2.96 in level 3 (juniors) and 3.15 in level 4 (seniors), the respondents had rated slightly agree on all the observed indicators of clinical instructors’ caring behavior perceptions. Thus, this depicted that the respondents had positive perceptions of their clinical instructors’ caring behavior. The results of the correlation between the independent and dependent variables pointed out that aside from their year level, which has a p-value of <0.010, no other independent variables were significantly associated with the respondents' perceptions of the caring behavior of their clinical instructors since the p values of their age (0.081) and gender (0.689) did exceed the 0.05 level of significance. Thus, this revealed that only the year level of the students is significantly associated with caring behavior perceptions demonstrated by the clinical instructors, which has a p-value of <0.010. To all clinical instructors, this study suggests that further training of nursing students regarding the significance of caring is needed for them to be able to learn about the essence of caring in nursing and to be well-molded individuals who will give quality nursing care to individuals, families and communities. Thus, the care demonstrated by the clinical instructors will serve as a guide to nursing students in giving quality nursing care to their clients in various settings. One limitation of the present study is that only a few respondents were surveyed, and information regarding the impact of clinical instructors’ caring behavior towards nursing students was limited; hence, for future studies, greater sample size is recommended, and other confounding factors should also be investigated.