Barriers to effective community health nursing: a quantitative analysis of challenges faced by nursing students in...

Community health nursing (CHN) is central to primary healthcare delivery, but undergraduate nursing students may encounter educational, organizational, resource-related, and sociocultural barriers that affect their readiness for community-based practice. This study aimed to identify and quantify perceived barriers to CHN practice among nursing students in Saudi Arabia and to examine their relationships with self-reported educational preparedness and organizational support.

A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among nursing students enrolled in Saudi universities. A structured online questionnaire assessed perceived CHN practice barriers, educational preparedness, and organizational support. The instruments underwent cultural adaptation, forward-backward translation, expert-panel content validation, pilot testing, and internal-consistency assessment. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, correlation analyses, and exploratory multiple linear regression were used.

A total of 139 nursing students completed the survey. Participants reported minor-to-moderate overall barriers (M = 2.69, SD = 0.96). Resource barriers were rated highest, with shortage of equipment (M = 2.93, SD = 1.38) and lack of educational materials (M = 2.86, SD = 1.32) identified as the most salient challenges. Educational preparedness (M = 3.25, SD = 0.98) and organizational support (M = 3.46, SD = 1.03) were rated moderately positive. Small-to-moderate positive correlations were observed between barriers and educational preparedness (r = 0.269, p = 0.001) and between barriers and organizational support (r = 0.242, p = 0.004); these findings were interpreted cautiously as potentially reflecting awareness effects, conceptual overlap, or shared-method variance. The multivariable regression model was not statistically significant and explained a small proportion of variance (R ² = 0.089, p = 0.052).

Nursing students in Saudi Arabia perceived meaningful, though not severe, barriers to effective CHN practice, with resource limitations and skills gaps as primary concerns. The findings support strengthened curriculum-practice integration, expanded simulation and community-immersion experiences, improved placement resources, and targeted faculty development aligned with healthcare transformation priorities.