A cross-sectional study in college-based nursing education: The influence of core self-evaluation and career calling on study engagement in nursing undergraduates

Abstract

Aim: To investigate undergraduate nursing students' general study engagement using intra-individual assessment and to evaluate the impact of core self-evaluation and career calling on study engagement. Design: A descriptive and cross-sectional design. Methods: Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire survey. Four hundred and twenty nursing students from first- to fourth (final)-academic year in Guangzhou Medical University were invited to participate in the spring of 2021. The Cronbach's alpha, one-way analysis of variance, Bonferroni post hoc analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results: The first- and fourth-year undergraduates showed significantly higher levels of study engagement (first-year undergraduates, 3.52 ± 0.59; fourth-year undergraduates, 3.54 ± 0.64), core self-evaluation (first-year undergraduates, 3.04 ± 0.48; fourth-year undergraduates, 3.11 ± 0.45) and career calling (first-year undergraduates, 3.65 ± 0.47; fourth-year undergraduates, 3.69 ± 0.50) than those of second-year undergraduates (study engagement, 3.32 ± 0.61; core self-evaluation, 2.93 ± 0.52; career calling, 3.41 ± 0.50) and third-year undergraduates (study engagement, 3.16 ± 0.61; core self-evaluation, 2.88 ± 0.50; career calling, 3.34 ± 0.38). The Pearson correlation analysis among nursing students revealed a significant positive correlation between core self-evaluation, career calling and study engagement (p < 0.01). A partial mediation effect of career calling was present in the relationship between core self-evaluation and study engagement.