Nursing Students' Self-rated Nurse Professional Competence at the End of an International Collaborative Education Program and Follow-up 1 Year Later

BACKGROUND: International collaborative programs and student active learning are encouraged; yet, little is known about them. PURPOSE: To compare nursing students' self-rated nurse professional competence (NPC) and general self-efficacy between those enrolled in an international collaborative program, which focused on student active learning, and those enrolled in a traditional lecture-based program at the end of graduation and 1 year later. METHODS: This prospective comparative study distributed a questionnaire to 137 nursing students enrolled in the 2 bachelor-level programs at a university in southeastern China. RESULTS: At the end of graduation, students enrolled in the international collaborative program reported higher scores for NPC factors, medical and technical care and general self-efficacy, than those enrolled in the traditional lecture-based program. One year later, they reported higher scores for total NPC, value-based nursing care, medical and technical care, care pedagogics, documentation and administration of nursing care, and general self-efficacy than others. CONCLUSION: This study found that the nursing students enrolled in the international collaborative program reported higher self-rated competence.