Clinical Practice Competence of Mettu University Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Clinical practice competence is the ability to effectively integrate cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills during the delivery of health care. It is the concern and the center of attention for the managers, professional associations, government, and society as a whole. Therefore, identifying the level of clinical practice competence of students and taking appropriate action is crucial. The aim of the present study was to investigate clinical practice competence of nursing students in Mettu University.

A cross-sectional study was employed on 105 nursing students at Mettu University from February to April, 2019. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were entered into EpiData manager version 4.2.2 and exported to statistical package for the social science (SPSS) version 20.0 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions. The statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

Out of the total participants involved, 102 participants returned the questionnaire making response rate of 97.1%. Majority 78 (76.5%) of participants were males with the mean age of 23.05 (SD = 1.11) years. The overall clinical practice competence of participants was 2.03 (SD = 0.54) which indicates clinical practice incompetence. Year of study [AOR 4.9; 95%, CI: 0.04, 16.53] and clinical practice placement [AOR: 2.7; 95% CI: 0.1, 14.86] were the identified associated factors of clinical practice competence at p<0.05.

Clinical practice competence of nursing students was inadequate to provide quality, safe and satisfying nursing care. This could not meet patients holistic needs and may even bringfear, stress, anxiety and unnecessary errors by students at clinical sites. Nursing schools and teaching hospitals should collaborate to enhance the nursing students clinical practice competence.