Predictors of nurses' level of participation in student care: A multivariable analysis

To determine the association and predictive nature of certain socio-demographic, education, work and research variables on nurses' participation level in the clinical care of students.

A cross-sectional analytical study using a validated questionnaire between February and June 2014.

A consecutive sample of 117 nurses who worked in public health centres in the province of Castellón (Spain) in 2014. The nurses who had never mentored students and the questionnaires that were <50% complete were excluded.

A descriptive analysis of the sample and an association analysis between variables were performed. The questionnaire and its dimensions were performed with a logistic regression and the maximum likelihood method, which used a complementary log-log link method. The concordance index was calculated using contingency tables.

The mean age was 42.56 years, and the overall mean questionnaire score was 122.84 (SD = 18.69; 95% CI: 119.415-126.26). Across the sample, 58.1% (n = 68) of the nurses obtained an Excellent score, followed by Adequate in 41% (n = 48). Overall, the predictive variables were age, mentoring of students in the last 5 years and previous training to mentor students.

The main predictive variable for greater participation in the mentorship of students was previous training in mentoring. This study also reflected on other variables that could influence nurses' participation in student mentoring.