Civic Engagement Experiences of Students Preparing for Roles as Clinical Nurse Specialists

Clinical nurse specialist (CNS) students at an urban Midwestern university participated in a study to describe their satisfaction with civic engagement (CE) learning activities.

A descriptive and cross-sectional study design housed a faculty-developed CE learning module with four learning activities: (a) gaining interprofessional collaborative practice leadership experience in a mock incident command experience; (b) identifying, researching, and writing a legislative letter about an area of public and/or health policy concern; and (c) developing a professional online network LinkedIn account with experienced CNSs; (d) identifying potential mechanisms for achieving board membership on a civic or professional nursing organization. Faculty developed an online survey to determine student satisfaction through quantitative and qualitative data. Participants completed the survey at the end of the course.

Satisfaction with CE learning activities ranged from a mean of 6.07 to 6.75 on a 7-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating more satisfaction. The overall mean score for CE activities was 6.27 (SD = 0.61) and mean score for course objectives' satisfaction was 6.55 (SE = 0.70). Students reported high satisfaction with their learning as a result of the CE activities.

CNS students perceived high satisfaction with learning from the CE activities in this study.