Characteristics and academic resilience related factors in nursing students with intentions to change majors

Owing to the shortage of nursing personnel, there has been a rapid increase in the number of students entering nursing programs. Combined with the demanding curriculum that integrates theoretical education with clinical practice, as well as the psychological pressure of passing the national exam, this situation has led to an increasing number of students either dropping out or considering transfers to other departments.

To explore the characteristics of nursing students who intend to change majors and identify factors related to academic resilience by comparing them with the characteristics of students who do not intend to change majors.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 214 undergraduate nursing students. The data were collected using structured questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 26.0.

Of the nursing students, 51.4 % intended to change their majors. The level of satisfaction with their major was lower among those with the intention to change majors than among those without such intentions. Students with intentions to change majors had lower positive psychological capital and academic resilience, and reported more bullying. Academic resilience positively correlated with positive psychological capital and stress coping and negatively correlated with bullying. However, they utilized fewer stress-coping strategies than students who did not intend to change majors.

This study's results suggest that systematic educational programs should be designed to enhance positive psychological capital from the outset, and strategies to improve stress-coping skills to mitigate the negative impacts of the academic process and promote academic success should be developed.