The Effect of Managerial and Leadership Training and Simulation on Senior Nursing Students’ Career Planning and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Introduction: Enhancing nursing students’ professional knowledge and integrating simulation and clinical training into students’ education may affect their career planning and development. Objectives: This study aimed to explore how managerial and leadership training and simulation affect career planning knowledge, career choice, and self-efficacy among senior nursing students. Additionally, it explored how students perceived the training they received. Methods: This study employed a mixed methods design for collecting quantitative and qualitative data about the training. A quasi-experimental design using a pretest and posttest with a convenience sample of senior nursing students (N = 80) at a Saudi nursing college guided the quantitative part. Nursing students were introduced to a managerial and leadership training and simulation intervention focused on career knowledge. The career planning questionnaire and a self-efficacy scale were used to collect quantitative data before and after the intervention, and the open-ended questions were used for qualitative data about the training they received. For the quantitative data, we used descriptive and inferential statistics, and for the qualitative data, we used content analysis. Results: After the training sessions, nursing students’ career planning knowledge and self-efficacy scores were considerably enhanced, with a significant difference and positive associations (p