Clinical practice competencies and associated factors among graduating nursing students attending at universities in Northern Ethiopia: institution-based cross-sectional study.

Objective: To assess clinical practice competencies and associated factors among graduating nursing students attending public universities found in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia DESIGN: Institution-based cross-sectional study design SETTING: The study was conducted in six universities found in the Amhara Region from February to April 2018.

Participants: 307 graduating nursing students participated. Of these, 173 were male and 134 were females from different ethnic groups; Amhara 145, Oromo 84, Tigris 44 and Gurage 17. Graduating nursing students attending regular degree programmes were included.

Outcome Measurements: Clinical instructor (good vs not good), clinical environment (conducive vs not conducive), assessment method (measurable vs not measurable), clinical staff-student interaction (good vs not good), clinical practice competency (competent vs incompetent).

Result: The study revealed that 33.6% (95% CI 26.3% to 39.41%) of students were clinically competent. Orientation about the objective of clinical practice (adjusted OR, AOR 2.387; 95% CI 1.011 to 5.635), enough time for mentoring during clinical practice (AOR 2.247; 95% CI 1.100 to 4.593). Students followed by instructors during conducting a procedure (AOR 2.655; 95% CI 1.294 to 5.449), assessment checklist during clinical practice (AOR 2.663; 95% CI 1.324 to 5.358), students who were allowed by clinical staffs to perform tasks (AOR 5.858; 95% CI 2.657 to 12.916), clinical instructor factors (AOR 3.051; 95% CI 1.717 to 5.421) and student-staff interaction factors (AOR 2.348; 95% CI (1.337 to 4.124) were statistically significant variables with the level of competency.

Conclusion: Around one-third of the students were clinically competent. Clinical instructor and staff-student interaction were significantly associated with clinical practice competencies among graduating nursing students. Therefore, designing an appropriate clinical practice protocol that includes improving the supervision of a clinical instructor is important to enhance the clinical practice competency of students.