Caring Needs and Caring Efficacy in Nursing Students :The Mediating Effects of Compassion

Abstract

In this study, an attempt was made to provide basic data for improving caring efficacy by confirming the relationship between caring needs, compassion, and caring efficacy of nursing students. Because they need to increase care practice skills through the nursing education process. For the research method, Data were gathered from four nursing departments in two cities of a province in Korea. The collected data were analyzed by frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA according to the characteristics of the variables, and the correlation between variables was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The mediation regression analysis of caring needs, compassion, and caring efficacy was analyzed using the 3-step analysis method by Baron and Kenny (1986). Results revealed that, caring efficacy was related to motivation to apply (F=3.127, p=.009), grades (F=6.509, p=.002), presence or absence of volunteer work (t=1.932, p=.050), and health status (r=. 128, p=.012), interpersonal relationships (r=.338, p=.000), and major satisfaction (r=.265, p=.000) showed significant differences. In the relationship between caring needs and caring efficacy in nursing students, compassion was found to have a partial mediating effect (Z=2.00, p=<.001). Therefore, it is necessary to consider the effect of compassion as well as caring needs in order to increase care efficacy for nursing students, and it is necessary to make efforts to create a practice environment where they can learn and learn care to enhance care efficacy.