title: Nursing students' perceptions of their educational environment in the bachelor's programs of the Shifa College of Nursing, Pakistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate nursing students' perceptions of their educational environment in a private college. Perceptions were compared between genders and 2 bachelor's programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 219 students participated in this study, drawn from the Generic Bachelor of Science in Nursing (GBSN) and the Post-Registered Nurse Bachelor of Science in Nursing (PRBSN) programs of the Shifa College of Nursing, Islamabad, Pakistan. The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure was utilized for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate total scores, as well as means and standard deviations, and the t-test was applied for comparisons according to program and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall total mean score (119 of 200) is suggestive of more positive than negative perceptions of the educational environment. The mean score of 13 of 28 on the social self-perception subscale suggests that the social environment was felt to be 'not a nice place.' The t-test revealed more positive perceptions among students enrolled in the PRBSN program (P<0.0001) than among those enrolled in the GBSN program and more positive perceptions among female students than among male students (P<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Commonalities and differences were found in the perceptions of the nursing students. Both positive and negative perceptions were reported; the overall sense of a positive environment was present, but the social component requires immediate attention, along with other unsatisfactory components. Establishing a supportive environment conducive to competence-based learning would play an important role in bringing desirable changes to the educational environment.
authors.affiliation: Shifa College of Nursing, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6307-941X
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Victor
authors.affiliation: Shifa College of Nursing, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9822-3488
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishtiaq
authors.affiliation: Shifa College of Nursing, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Subia
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3734-9658
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parveen
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan; D010465:Perception; D012931:Social Environment; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cross-sectional studies; Nursing students; Pakistan; Social environment; Social perception