Nursing students' perceptions on motivation strategies to enhance academic achievement through blended learning: A qualitative study

Abstract

Students who are motivated to learn novel knowledge and skills are needed to provide high-quality nursing services. Student nurses increasingly lose motivation as their program progresses due to various factors, especially in light of the recent academic situation with online education. As a result, the purpose of this study is to elucidate ways for improving academic motivation among Saudi nursing people who enrolled in blended learning. This study used a qualitative exploratory study design based on the phenomenological exploration, with 20 nursing students from a prominent Saudi institution. The qualitative analysis of the verbatim conveyed by the student nurses has yielded in the emergence of two main themes; “Extrinsic Motivation” and “Intrinsic Motivation”. Under the first theme the following subthemes emerged; “University support through policy”, “Instructor skills and communication”, “Curricular organization”, “Quality clinical experiences”, and “Conducive blended environment”, while under “Intrinsic Motivation”, the thematic analysis resulted in, “Coping with blended environment” and “Control over learning process”. Educators, students, academic staff, and clinical training are all identified as areas where academic motivation can be improved. In principle, boosting educational quality and instilling a good attitude among nursing students boost academic motivation.