Attitudes and Behaviors of Nursing Students towards Caring Nurse-Patient Interaction

BACKGROUND/AIMS This study aimed to determine the attitudes and behaviors of nursing students towards caring nurse-patient interactions. MATERIAL and METHODS A total of 177 nursing students, who were enrolled at the undergraduate nursing program of Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus in the spring semester of academic year 2018-2019, constituted the sample of this descriptive study. A "Personal Information Form" and "Caring Nurse-Patient Interactions Scale" were used for data collection. RESULTS Attitudes and behaviors of nursing students towards caring nurse-patient interactions were positive. Scores obtained regarding the importance aspect of caring nurse-patient interactions were significantly higher than the scores for the competence and realistic aspects. The competence scores of the participants who chose to study nursing because they loved the profession and the importance scores of the participants who had healthcare experience as patients were significantly higher than those of the participants without healthcare experience as patients CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that nursing students recognize the importance of caring nurse-patient interactions. However, many do not consider themselves as competent in those interactions and they do not necessarily believe that caring nurse-patient interactions are realistic.