Degree Completion Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Their Readiness to Learn Online

Abstract

Raising the professional knowledge and skill of nurses through acquiring a baccalaureate degree has shown evidence of an increase in the provision of quality care, a reduction in mortality rates in hospitals, and increase in patient safety. Institutions of higher education have adopted online learning for degree-completion nursing programs in Uganda to advance more nurses to the baccalaureate level. This paper presents the findings from the qualitative phase of a mixed-method study that explored factors that contribute to students’ self-efficacy to learn online. In the quantitative phase of the study, 226 nursing students were surveyed about their personal attributes, technical competences, and institutional supports that contributed to their self-efficacy to learn online. The surveys revealed that a majority of the students (58%) reported moderate to high levels of readiness to learn online. The qualitative phase was designed to elicit the students’ perception of those factors that influenced self-efficacy to learn online. It was also conducted during the COVID pandemic and captured the students’ perceptions during the online study. Two focus group discussions were held with a representative sample from the students (n-14) who participated in the survey portion of the study. The findings provided an understanding of students’ perceptions of online learning readiness, the challenges they faced, and insights into how educators, employers, and families can support students’ online learning. The findings can be generalized to students such as those in degree-completion programs, who are employed, and who study from rural or low resource areas globally.