No abstract

The attrition of admitted students from nursing programs has been attributed to the perceived stress of nursing school. Students who possess the characteristics of self-efficacy and resilience may be persistent and therefore academically successful as demonstrated by test scores over the course of their education. In this article, the authors report on a study that explored self efficacy and resilience in relation to test scores among 136 baccalaureate nursing students in multiple courses during one, 16 week semester. No statistically significant differences were found in perceived self-efficacy or resilience total scores between early semester and late semester measurements. Significant differences were found on the Resilience Scale subscales of Perseverence and Existential Aloneness. Test scores were weakly correlated with resilience and self-efficacy scores.

Background. There is limited literature available identifying and describing the instruments that measure cultural competence in nursing students and nursing professionals. Design. An integrative review was undertaken to identify the characteristics common to these instruments, examine their psychometric properties, and identify the concepts these instruments are designed to measure. Method. There were eleven instruments identified that measure cultural competence in nursing. Of these eleven instruments, four had been thoroughly tested in either initial development or in subsequent testing, with developers providing extensive details of the testing. Results. The current literature identifies that the instruments to assess cultural competence in nurses and nursing students are self-administered and based on individuals' perceptions. The instruments are commonly utilized to test the effectiveness of educational programs designed to increase cultural competence. Conclusions. The reviewed instruments measure nurses' self-perceptions or self-reported level of cultural competence but offer no objective measure of culturally competent care from a patient's perspective which can be problematic. Comparison of instruments reveals that they are based on a variety of conceptual frameworks and that multiple factors should be considered when deciding which instrument to use.

The ethnic proportions of the population in the United States are rapidly changing, with the nation's minority population at approximately 101 million. This is also true for the West Texas region, where locally in a city with 183,000 residents, 43 different languages are spoken suggesting that cultural education needs to be included in nursing program curricula. Therefore, a study was conducted during a period of curriculum revision to determine if the current nursing curriculum at a public university offers enough education and experience for graduating nurses to care for such a diverse population by comparing their perceptions of cultural competence with beginning sophomore nursing students' perceptions. Participants were asked to complete the Cultural Competence Assessment (CCA) tool in order to evaluate perceptions of cultural competence. Upon analysis of the data, perceptions of cultural competence among graduating nursing students were significantly higher (P = .002) than the perceptions of cultural competence among beginning nursing students. These results support that nursing students perceive that they have become culturally competent during their nursing education, leading to implications of the need for continued education relating to this concept, beginning with the first course and continuing throughout the nursing curriculum.

As more nursing students are employed, it is essential that schools of nursing examine the relationship between student employment and academic performance. In this study, we found a statistically significant negative relationship between students who work at least 16 hours a week and academic performance, especially in high-attrition courses. Current practices in nursing education must be assessed to ensure that students who must work have every opportunity to succeed.