![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Learning Objective 1: understand relationships between self-directed learning ability and the characteristics of nurses in Japan.
Learning Objective 2: consider the circumstances and continuing education for clinical nurses.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between the self-directed learning ability and the demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and educational status etc.; one’s will to work continuously, to enter the next stage of education, and to acquire qualification; or the existence of nursing role models.
Methods: In this study, 805 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to clinical nurses working in a national teaching hospital in
Results: Two hundred and eighty two nurses responded to the survey with a valid response rate of 35.0%. There were 10 males and 272 females with the age of 33.5±10.0 years, and the period of working as a nurse were 11.3±9.6 years. There were not statistical differences between the self-directed learning scores and the demographic characteristics such as gender and marital status. However, the nurses who had been willing to take an in-hospital certified course and who had their nursing role model significantly acquired higher scores of the self-directed learning scale than those who did not (p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively). The nurses who were in the older age group and/or with longer nursing career significantly were pointed the lower scores (both p<0.01).
Conclusion: Positive self-directed leaning attitude of the nurses was connected to higher motivation to take an in-hospital certified course and having good nursing models. On the other hand, older age and longer working experiences influenced negatively on their self-directed learning abilities. This study was partially supported by the Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare Scientific Research Fund.