Structural Equation Model for Developing Person-Centered Care Competency among Senior Nursing Students

Recent health care developments have emphasized person-centered care, which highlights individualized treatments rather than focusing solely on the nature of a given disease. Thus, we aim to identify the factors and construct a structural equation model for developing person-centered care competency among senior nursing students based on the social cognitive career theory and a subsequent literature review. We use a hypothetical model to examine the factors influencing person-centered care competency, and using a structured questionnaire, and we collect data on self-awareness, the clinical learning environment, clinical practicum adaptation, nursing professionalism, empathy, and person-centered care competency. The participants include 383 third- and fourth-year senior nursing students who had undergone at least one semester of clinical practice in South Korea. SPSS/WIN 26.0 is used to analyze all obtained data, while AMOS 25.0 is used for structural equation modeling. The final model is confirmed to be suitable for explaining and predicting person-centered care competency among participants. Nursing professionalism, empathy, clinical practicum adaptation, self-awareness, and the clinical learning environment explained 38.8% of the total variance among participants. Strategies and interventions designed to enhance person-centered care competency for senior nursing students should particularly focus on nursing professionalism, empathy, clinical practicum adaptation, self-awareness, and the clinical learning environment.