The knowledge levels of first year nursing students regarding the data collection phase of nursing process and the difficulties that they have encountered

The research is carried out as a descriptive and methodologic study in order to investigate the knowledge levels of the Nursing Department first year students regarding the Data Collection Phase of Nursing Process and the Difficulties that they have encountered. The universe of the study which comprised to (N=136) among the students in Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing who are enrolled to first year classes during the spring semester in the academic year of 2014-2015. The sample of the research are selected among the students who have not been formerly graduated from a Health Occupational High School, who became volunteer to participate in this research and who have taken the Fundamentals of Nursing Course for the first time (n=106). Data of the study were collected using the following tools: "Questionnaire on the Descriptive Characteristics of Students", "Questionnaire on Nursing Students' Difficulties in Collecting Data", "Questionnaire to Determine the Levels of Knowledge of Students Related to the Stage of Data Collection in the Nursing Process" and "The Scale regarding the Nursing Students' Difficulties of Asking Questions regarding Privacy" (NSDAQPS). During evaluation of the data, numbers and percentages, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and Dunn Test are used. The results indicated that the knowledge levels of the students regarding data collection are in moderately qualified and that 52.8% of the students have taken above average scores in this scale. The structural validity of above mentioned NSDAQPS test is enabled by EFA and it is determined that the scale had single factor. The Cronbach-Alfa coefficient of the scale is found as 0.931. The median score NSDAQPS students is found as 3.47 (min=1.83, max=5.00) and their competence for asking private questions is found as above average. A significant, at low level and positive correlation is found between knowledge levels and NSDAQPS scores of the students (p=0.049, r=0.192). The results have indicated that more comprehensive knowledge regarding data collection should be included into the educational programs of Nursing students.