Kontakt 2015, 17(1):e6-e12 | DOI: 10.1016/j.kontakt.2015.01.003

The relationship of clinical learning environment to nursing students' academic motivationNursing - Original article

Neziha Karabulut^a,*, Yeşim Yaman Aktaş^b, Dilek Küçük Alemdar^c

^a Atatürk University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Surgical Nursing, Erzurum, Turkey

^b Giresun University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Surgical Nursing, Giresun, Turkey

^c Giresun University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Giresun, Turkey

Objectives: Nursing education is a process that includes theoretical and practical learning and requires the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and skills. Nursing students need a positive clinical practice environment in order to apply their knowledge and skills, due to the fact that the clinical practice settings play an important role in the nursing profession. This study was carried out to explore the relationship of clinical learning environment to nursing students' academic motivation.

Methods: One hundred and twenty seven (127) nursing students who had been training at Giresun University, Faculty of Health Sciences, were enrolled in this descriptive study. The data were collected using the 'Clinical Learning Environment Scale' and the 'Academic Motivation Scale'.

Results: In this study, 34.6% second class, 37% third class and 28.4% fourth class of nursing students were surveyed. The mean scores of clinical learning environment and academic motivation were 66.7 ± 8.7 and 68 ± 10.9, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the scales (r = 0.254, p < 0.05).

Conclusion: One of the prerequisites for the training of qualified students is to provide nursing students with a qualified clinical environment. It was found that nursing students' academic motivation increased as the quality of their clinical learning environment improved.

Keywords: Nursing students; Clinical practice; Academic motivation; Clinical expectations; Clinical learning

Received: September 26, 2014; Revised: November 9, 2014; Accepted: January 19, 2015; Published: March 10, 2015  Show citation