Student perceptions of faculty caring in online nursing education: A mixed-methods study. 2022

Kate Jones, and Vera Polyakova-Norwood, and Phyllis Raynor, and Abbas Tavakoli
College of Nursing, University of South Carolina, 1601 Greene Street, Columbia, SC 29208, United States of America. Electronic address: kate.jones@sc.edu.

BACKGROUND As the prevalence of online nursing education increased, so did the need for faculty to understand student perceptions of faculty behaviors that demonstrate caring and promote student success. Literature from both education and nursing journals supported this study. OBJECTIVE Primary objectives were to identify how the value of caring is made visible in online learning, to understand how students prioritized faculty caring behaviors and to identify any significant differences in perceptions related to student demographics. A secondary objective was to provide professional development tools for faculty who teach nursing students in the online environment. METHODS Mixed methods. METHODS A College of Nursing within a large public university in the Southeastern United States. METHODS One hundred and forty-one (141) nursing students pursuing graduate degrees (MSN or DNP) participated in the student survey and 15 participated in the focus groups/interviews; 28 faculty members responded to the survey. METHODS A validated survey tool was used to identify how students prioritized faculty caring behaviors. Facilitator-led focus groups were used to gain additional insights. Faculty members were surveyed to compare faculty and student priorities. Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed. RESULTS Graduate nursing students perceived a course that is well-designed, with clear instructions and communication, and a supportive environment, to be evidence of faculty caring. There were significant differences in student responses when analyzed by demographic characteristics such as gender and race. Student perceptions aligned with previous research on this topic; faculty and student perceptions differed in some areas. CONCLUSIONS Quantifying graduate student perceptions about faculty caring behaviors provided information that is used for faculty professional development. Further research is needed to explore perceptions of faculty caring in different student populations. Multi-site studies to explore race and gender differences in perception are also recommended.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D004506 Education, Nursing Use for general articles concerning nursing education. Nursing Education,Educations, Nursing,Nursing Educations
D005181 Faculty, Nursing The teaching staff and members of the administrative staff having academic rank in a nursing school. Nursing Faculty,Faculties, Nursing,Nursing Faculties
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013338 Students, Nursing Individuals enrolled in a school of nursing or a formal educational program leading to a degree in nursing. Nurses, Pupil,Pupil Nurses,Nursing Student,Nursing Students,Student, Nursing,Nurse, Pupil,Pupil Nurse
D014495 Universities Educational institutions providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic degrees. University
D020375 Education, Distance Education via communication media (correspondence, radio, television, computer networks) with little or no in-person face-to-face contact between students and teachers. (ERIC Thesaurus, 1997) Correspondence Courses,Distance Education,Distance Learning,Online Education,Online Learning,Correspondence Course,Course, Correspondence,Education, Online,Learning, Distance,Learning, Online,Online Educations

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