Professional nursing practice environment from students’ perspective in COVID-19

Abstract

Objective: To assess the professional nursing practice environment from the perspective of students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted with a convenience sample of 43 students attending the last grade of the Nursing Undergraduate course at a federal university located in the city of São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Characterization variables: sex, ethnicity, age, place of internship and a question on whether they have worked and/or did an extracurricular internship in the area. The Practice Environment Scale - Brazilian validated version, consisting of 24 items and five subscales, was applied. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the following tests: Kruskal Wallis, ANOVA, Tukey, t-student and Mann Whitney. Logistic regression analysis was performed. A significance level of p<0.005 was considered. Results: Subscale 3 “Staffing and resource adequacy” was the only one with an unfavorable mean (53.49%). The variable “having worked and/or done an extracurricular internship” was statistically significant in Subscale 2 “Nurse manager ability, leadership and support of nurses” (p=0.003). On overall mean, students rated the environment as favorable (p<0.001). Conclusion: Despite the context, most students rated the environment as favorable. The variable “having worked and/or done an extracurricular internship” was statistically significant. The training of leaders, the strengthening of continuing education programs and involvement of nurses in activities, problem solving and internal committees of the institution are considered preambles to offer qualified care within a close to favorable environment of professional practice.