The effect of a clinical practicum on undergraduate nursing students' self-efficacy for community-based family nursing practice.
Providing family nursing care using a collaborative practice model presents a challenge to undergraduate students and to faculty who structure their learning experiences. A pre-test-post-test design was used to assess the impact of a 13-week family nursing clinical practicum on the perceived self-efficacy of two groups of nursing students in three areas: knowledge related to family nursing, home visiting, and collaborative practice. Students completed the Family Nursing Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (FNSE) at the beginning of the academic year and 4 and 8 months later to coincide with the timing of the practicum for each group (fall or winter term). A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a significant group X time effect (lambda = .80, p < .001). Students' self-efficacy differed significantly by group at time 2 only (t = 4.3, p < .001), supporting the positive effects of the clinical practicum on students' self-efficacy. Consistent with Bandura's (1977, 1986) theory, students rated actual performance of family nursing skills in a clinical setting as the most important source of efficacy information. Implications for designing meaningful clinical experiences in family nursing are discussed.
Ford-Gilboe
M
M
Faculty of Nursing, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Laschinger
H S
HS
Laforet-Fliesser
Y
Y
Ward-Griffin
C
C
Foran
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005192:Family Health; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016294:Models, Nursing; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012649:Self Concept; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*