![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Student satisfaction has been associated with later professional attitudes, career commitment, retention in the field of nursing, and more engagement as alumni of our institutions 1-4. Assessment of student satisfaction in nursing is complex in that we must assess in-class theory courses, clinical practice, and services provided by the faculty as a whole 2. Evaluation of all aspects of nursing education is challenging, as most university and college based programs standardized evaluations do not fit well with the multiple domains within the nursing curriculum. This issue has been further compounded in Ontario Canada by the fact that many university and College nursing programs have engaged in collaborative partnerships, in which the curriculum may be delivered by both college and university faculty and at different sites throughout the program as educational partners. Currently, all of these collaborative sites use institution-specific, system-wide student assessment tools. These independent instruments vary widely and are not specific to nursing. Hence they do not adequately address the unique characteristics of nursing education.
Our research used the comprehensive Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Academic Satisfaction Scale (UNSASS) 2, and the Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Academic Satisfaction Scale–Short Form (UNSASS-SF). We have assessed our cohort of students for two years using an electronic evaluation process and have conducted comparative analyses of satisfaction over time.
Initial results from this ongoing study suggest that nursing satisfaction may be multidimensional and site specific. Overall satisfaction with our program ranged from “satisfied” to “very satisfied” across all sites. The majority of our nursing students were Caucasian, without children, and most were working at least part time. Conflict, on many fronts, emerged as a singular issue that decreased satisfaction throughout all aspects of the program.
This presentation will discuss a) the results found using the UNSASS across multiple sites; b) the use of the UNSASS-SF; c) found major contributors of satisfaction amongst our students and d) concerning trends that are impacting on satisfaction across all sites.
1 Butterfield, W., Deusinger, S., Gillespie, D., Smithe, J., & Strube, M. (1998). Personal, interpersonal, and organizational influences on student satisfaction with clinical education. Physical Therapy, 78(6), 635-654.
2 Gruber, T., Reppel, A., & Voss, R. (2010). Understanding the characteristics of effective professors: the student’s perspective. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education,20(2), 175-190. doi:10.1080/08841241.2010.526356
3Alves, H., & Raposo, M. (2007). Conceptual model of student satisfaction in higher education. Total Quality Management, 18(5), 571-588. doi: 10.1080/14783360601074315
4 Löfmark, A., Thorkildsen, K., Råholm, M., & Natvig, G., K. (2012). Nursing students’ satisfaction with supervision from preceptors and teachers during clinical practice. Nurse Education in Practice, 12, 164-169. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2011.12.005
5Dennison, S & El-Masri, M.,M. (2012). Development and psychometric assessment of the undergraduate nursing students’ academic satisfaction scale (UNSASS). The Journal of Nursing Measurement, 20(2), 75-89.