The effect of 'persons with disability friendly nursing education program based on story theory' on nursing students' empathic tendencies and perception of caring competency

Aim: This research aims to examine the effect of the 'Persons with Disability Friendly Nursing Education Program based on Story Theory' on nursing students' empathic tendencies and perceptions of caring competence toward persons with disability. Materials and Methods: In this research, a multi-stage evaluation design, which is one of the mixed methods research types, was used. In the quantitative dimension of the study, the randomized controlled single-blind pretest-posttest trial model was used. In the qualitative dimension, phenomenological interview and document review were used. The research population consisted of 122 senior students studying in the nursing department of a university. The research was completed with 30 experimental and 30 control group students who met the inclusion criteria. 'Persons with Disability Friendly Nursing Education Program based on Story Theory' was applied to the students in the experimental group. In the research, Introductory Information Form, Competency Perceptions Form for Caring for Persons with Disabilities, Empathic Tendency Scale, and Achievement Test were applied as pretest and post-test. Semi-structured interview forms were used in phenomenological interviews. In the quantitative analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, Paired t-test/Wilcoxon Test, and Independent two-sample t-test/Mann-Whitney U test were used. Content analysis was used in qualitative analysis. Results: According to the analysis of the focus group interviews conducted before the education program, the themes of 'Perception of disability,' 'Inadequacy of nursing education,' and 'Integration of disability into nursing education' emerged. 70% of the students in the experimental group, 72.3% of the students in the control group were female. Experimental group's mean score of the Empathic Tendencies Scale (p<0.002); mean score of Competency Perceptions Form for Caring for Persons with Disabilities (p=0.001); mean score of achievement test (p<0.05) was found higher in the posttest compared to the control group. According to the analysis of the focus group interviews conducted after the education program, the themes of "Contribution to the level of knowledge", "Contribution to the affective field" and "Contribution to the implementation process" emerged. Conclusion: As a result of the research, it was found that 'Persons with Disability Friendly Nursing Education Program based on Story Theory' applied to the students in the experimental group had a positive effect on nursing students' empathic tendencies and perceptions of caring competence toward persons with disability.