Learning Motivation and Self-Rated Anxiety: Nurse Interns' perspectives

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 lecturer of Nursing Education, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University

2 Assistant professor of Psychiatric and Mental health Nursing, Alexandria University.

Abstract

Background: Internship nursing students may go through many stressful experiences due to the
acceleration of field experience and assignment to many roles and workload; however, they have
limited clinical preparation. Therefore, this period is considered a stressful, tense, and demanding
time of nursing practice. Aim: The study aimed to assess learning motivation and self-rated anxiety
among nursing interns. Design: a descriptive correlational research design was used to conduct this
study. Setting: This study was conducted at four governmental hospitals in Alexandria, Egypt,
namely; El Shatby, Somoha, El Merey, and Nariman hospitals. Sample: a convenience sample of
all nursing interns who enrolled in the internship year 2017-2018, 272 comprised the study subjects.
Tool: An electronic triple-section questionnaire was used for collecting the necessary data in the
current study, the First section; interns’ personal data, the Second section; the Self-Rated Anxiety
Scale (SRAS), and the third section; Nursing interns’ Learning Motivation Scale (NILMS). Results:
The results of this study showed that nursing interns perceived mostly low anxiety levels and high
motivation levels. Hence, an inverse correlation between both can be seen. Conclusion: Anxiety is
highly widespread among nursing students, dominantly in clinical settings due to many factors
including; stressful environment and lack of experience. It is a normal response to unfamiliar and
unknown experiences. In some cases, anxiety can be a power to enhance a nursing student’s coping
and learning motivation. However, it can also be a mute threat that may distress nurses'
achievements and decrease their motivation levels without noticing it. Recommendation: In
general, accordingly it is recommended that the psychological state and anxiety levels among
nursing students be assessed as a priority issue in the healthcare system. It is also recommended to
work on increasing the level of motivation to learn among internship students, as it contributes
significantly to reducing their level of anxiety, especially in the first months of clinical practice. 

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