Nursing students' perceptions of their instructors' caring behaviors: A four-country study

Background: Caring is the core and essence of the nursing profession. Nurse educators, are in a key position to role model for perspective nurses the role of caring while including caring as a vital component in a nursing curriculum. Objectives: This paper is a report on students' perceptions of instructors' caring behavior in four countries: India, Greece, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Methods: This study utilized a quantitative, cross-sectional, comparative approach. A total of 450 nursing students participated with an almost equal nursing student frequency distribution. The main instrument used in this study was the Nursing Students' Perceptions of Instructor Caring (NSPIC). The study was conducted during the months of September 2013 to January 2014. Descriptive statistics, correlations analysis, linear regression model and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data collected. Findings: The highest rated subscale in the NSPIC was "instills confidence through caring" (M = 4.268, SD = 0.964), while the lowest ranked subscale was for the subscale "Control versus flexibility" (M = 3.609, SD = 1.076). No significant correlations were found between the NSPIC scale and gender (F = 0.060, p = 0.807), age (F = 3.220, p = 0.073), educational level (F = 0.100, p = 0.752) and family status of students (F = 1.417, p = 0.235), except the country of origin (F = 3.703, p = 0.012, η2 = 0.024). Conclusion: With this study as an initial investigation into ascertaining nursing instructors caring focused on a cross-country approach, nurse educators can utilize this information to better portray their role as a nurse educator when being perceived by their nursing students.