Determination of the effect of nursing students' active-passive role in clinical practice environment on self-efficacy and learning motivations in clinical performance

The present descriptive and correlational study was conducted with a view to ascertaining the effect of nursing students' active–passive role in the clinical practice environment on self-efficacy and learning motivation in clinical performance. The study was conducted with all student nurses studying at Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, in the 2023-2024 academic year. The data for the study were collected between May and June 2024, through the administration of the following instruments: the 'Student Information Form', the 'Clinical Practice Active/Passive Evaluation Form', the 'Self-Efficacy Scale in Clinical Performance', and the 'Learning Motivation Scale'. These were then subjected to evaluation through a range of statistical analyses, including percentage, frequency, mean, t-test, one-way ANOVA and multivariate linear regression. The mean age of the students participating in the study was 21, 77.9% were female, and 54% of them had a reason that reduced their clinical motivation. A statistically significant relationship was identified between the Clinical Practice Active/Passive Evaluation Form and the Self-Efficacy in Clinical Performance Scale (r=0.716, p<0.001), between the Clinical Practice Active/Passive Evaluation Form and the Learning Motivation Scale (r=0.438, p<0.001), and between the Self-Efficacy in Clinical Performance Scale and the Learning Motivation Scale (r=0.458, p<0.001). Furthermore, it was determined that students' clinical performance self-efficacy (β = 0.639), learning motivation (β = 0.131) positively, grade level (β = -0.070) and clinical practice active/passive evaluation level (β = -0.101) negatively affected the students' Clinical Practice Active/Passive Evaluation scores (R = 0.738; R2 = 0.541, P < 0.001, F: 167.769). The findings of this study indicated that nursing students exhibited a high level of engagement in clinical practice, characterised by their active participation in various clinical activities. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that these students demonstrated a strong sense of self-efficacy in their clinical performance and a high level of motivation to learn. The study also identified a positive and moderate relationship between these two factors. In this context, the implementation of structured educational and mentoring programmes that support motivation and strengthen self-efficacy is recommended to increase nursing students' active participation in clinical practice.