Clinical nursing competence of RN-to-BSN students in a nursing concept-based curriculum in Taiwan

Abstract

This 3-year longitudinal study used a questionnaire to evaluate the clinical nursing competence of RN-to-BSN students in a nursing concept-based curriculum in Taiwan. The research sample consisted of 52 full-time and 69 part-time RN-to-BSN students. A four-dimensional Clinical Nursing Competence Questionnaire was developed to measure student caring, communication/ coordination, management/teaching, and professional self-growth competence. Results indicated full-time students' scores on self-evaluations of overall clinical nursing competence significantly increased with each successive evaluation (p < .05). The scores of part-time students fell significantly with successive evaluations, with the exception of professional self-growth competence (p < .01). Instructor evaluations generally showed no significant difference between the two groups. Student self-evaluations were significantly higher than instructor evaluations (p < .05). The results of this study may serve as a reference for nurse educators developing curricula for RN-to-BSN education.