Factors affecting Korean nursing student empowerment in clinical practice.

Background: Understanding the phenomenon of nursing student empowerment in clinical practice is important. Investigating the cognition of empowerment and identifying predictors are necessary to enhance nursing student empowerment in clinical practice.

Objectives: To identify empowerment predictors for Korean nursing students in clinical practice based on studies by Bradbury-Jones et al. and Spreitzer.

Design: A cross-sectional design was used for this study.

Setting: This study was performed in three nursing colleges in Korea, all of which had similar baccalaureate nursing curricula.

Participants: Three hundred seven junior or senior nursing students completed a survey designed to measure factors that were hypothesized to influence nursing student empowerment in clinical practice.

Methods: Data were collected from November to December 2011. Study variables included self-esteem, clinical decision making, being valued as a learner, satisfaction regarding practice with a team member, perception on professor/instructor/clinical preceptor attitude, and total number of clinical practice fields. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regression analyses.

Results: All of the hypothesized study variables were significantly correlated to nursing student empowerment. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that clinical decision making in nursing (t=7.59, p<0.001), being valued as a learner (t=6.24, p<0.001), self-esteem (t=3.62, p<0.001), and total number of clinical practice fields (t=2.06, p=0.040). The explanatory power of these predictors was 35% (F=40.71, p<0.001).

Conclusion: Enhancing nursing student empowerment in clinical practice will be possible by using educational strategies to improve nursing student clinical decision making. Simultaneously, attitudes of nurse educators are also important to ensure that nursing students are treated as valued learners and to increase student self-esteem in clinical practice. Finally, diverse clinical practice field environments should be considered to enhance experience.