Impacts of alternative clinical practice on nursing professionalism in nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic

코로나19 팬데믹 동안 간호대학생의 대체실습경험이 간호전문직관에 미치는 영향

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the impacts of alternative clinical practice on nursing professionalism in nursing students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was used for this study. Data were collected from 178 junior and senior nursing students from December 28, 2022 to January 6, 2023. The nursing students' characteristics, nursing professionalism, clinical competence, extent of alternative clinical practice, and satisfaction with alternative clinical practice were self-reported through an on-line survey. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine the impacts of alternative clinical practice on nursing professionalism along with the confounding variables. Results: The nursing students reported that they performed alternative clinical practice for more than half of their clinical practice throughout 2022. The extent of alternative clinical practice (β=-.11, p=.028), satisfaction with content (β=.14, p=.045), and evaluation of the alternative clinical practice (β=.17, p=.007) were found to have impacted nursing professionalism. These variables explained 55.6% of the variance in nursing professionalism. Conclusion: The study results suggest that the alternative nursing practice could impact nursing students' professionalism. However, it would be possible to develop nursing professionalism if the students' satisfaction with the alternative clinical practice were increased. Nurse educators need to improve the content and evaluation methods of alternative clinical practice to promote nursing professionalism during the implementation of such alternative clinical practice.