Mediating Effect of Motivation on the Relationship Between Lecturer Experience and Learning Environment With Caring Character Among Undergraduate Nursing Student in Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Caring is learned through faculty role-modeling and clinical interactions, enhancing nursing students’ caring character. Relationship between caring, motivation, teacher experience, and learning environment remains uncertain. Objective: The present study aimed to explore the relationship between their caring characters, motivation, lecturer experience, and learning environment among undergraduate nursing students in Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2022 and February 2023, recruiting 550 undergraduate nursing students from 10 universities in West Java province, Indonesia. The study included instruments such as students’ perceptions of learning, academic motivation scale, service quality assessment of instructional laboratories, and caring character learning instrument. The Bootstrap analysis was used to analyze the mediating effect of study variable. Results: The study involved participants aged 20–25 years. The mean scores for caring characters, lecturer experience, motivation, and learning environment were 2.18 ± 0.97, 3.46 ± 1.20, 4.32 ± 1.53, and 5.96 ± 2.08, respectively. The results showed significant direct effects of lecturer experience on caring character, mediating effects of learning environment, motivation, and chain mediating effects of learning environment and motivation. The direct effect accounted for 44.34% of the total effect, while the indirect effect was 35.21%. Conclusions: The study found that learning environment and motivation mediate the relationship between lecturer experience and caring characters among undergraduate nursing students in West Java, Indonesia. Emphasizing best practices and creating a student-friendly environment is crucial for fostering guidance and support.