Nursing education research provides the foundation for evidence-based teaching which is considered the gold-standard for nursing education (National League for Nursing [NLN], 2016). Nursing education research requires the use of nursing students as research subjects. While nursing students have generally positive attitudes toward nursing research and see the value of clinical nursing research for professional practice (Bjorkstrom, Johansson, Hamrin, & Athlin, 2003; Brooke, Hvalic-Touzery, & Skela-Savic, 2015; Halabi, 2016; Toraman, Hamaratcilar, Tulu, &Erkin, 2017), there is no nursing literature about undergraduate nursing students’ perceptions of nursing education research or participation in nursing education research, or factors that facilitate or impede nursing student participation as subjects in nursing education research. The purposes of this pilot study were to identify: nursing students’ attitudes toward nursing research and nursing education research; nursing students’ perceptions of participation in nursing education research; and factors that affect nursing student participation as subjects in nursing education research.
Methods:
A convenience sample of baccalaureate nursing students (n=195) in a mid-sized Catholic university in the mid-Atlantic United States participated in a one-group, descriptive pilot study. Attitudes toward nursing research was measured using an existing Likert-style tool (Bjorkstrom, et al., 2003). Attitudes towards nursing education research was measured using a researcher-developed Likert-style tool, the Nursing Students’ Attitudes towards Nursing Education Research Questionnaire (α=0.88). Perceptions toward research participation were evaluated by ten researcher-developed Likert-style questions (α=0.797), while barriers and facilitators related to research participation were assessed through researcher-developed multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlations, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Qualitative data were analyzed using conventional content analysis.
Results:
Subjects had a mean age of 20, were mostly female (94.4%), primarily Caucasian (87.7%) and non-Hispanic (92.8%), and equally represented all four years of the baccalaureate program. Overall, participants had generally positive perceptions of nursing research in general (mean=132, possible range=35-175), nursing education research (mean=96.26, possible range=25-125), and participating in nursing education research (mean=37.6, possible range 20-50). The top facilitators to participating in nursing education research were: extra credit towards a grade (82%), potential to improve practice (75.4%), and interest in the research topic (69.7%). The major barriers to participating in nursing education research were: academic obligations (89.2%) and extracurricular activities (71.8%). Participant age was negatively correlated to perceptions toward participating in nursing education research (r= -0.151) and there was a significance difference between sophomore and junior level students for perceptions toward participating in nursing education research (p=0.005).
Qualitative data analysis revealed 5 major categories: time-consuming, desire for personal benefit (including extra credit and monetary incentives), benefit to the nursing profession, benefit to nursing education, and negative perceptions.
Conclusion:
The findings from this pilot study will help to shape nursing education research practices by identifying the barriers and facilitators to nursing student participation in nursing education research. This study should be replicated on a larger scale in more geographically diverse areas and with different types of pre-licensure degree programs.