Enhancing perceived leadership of nursing students through a student-led dedicated education unit in a community setting: A feasibility study Author links open overlay panel
Abstract
Background
Leadership competence is important to ensure the provision of safe and high-quality care in hospitals.
Purpose
The aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of enhancing the perceived leadership competence of nursing students through an innovative health education strategy, consisting of a student-led dedicated education unit (DEU) informed by a service-learning approach in a community setting.
Design
Feasibility study in a three-phase process: I: Design; II: Acceptability and implementation; III: Expansion to a different setting. In phase II the DEU was piloted with 62 students using a pretest/post-test with control group design. In phase III it was piloted with 20 students in the expansion setting.
Methods
The DEU was implemented and tested in Barcelona (Spain) between 2014 and 2019. To assess acceptability and implementation, students’ perceived leadership competence was measured using the Self-Assessment Leadership Instrument. We also obtained satisfaction ratings using an ad hoc questionnaire.
Results
Satisfaction was high among students, as well as among service users who received health education. In phase II, students’ post-test self-ratings of their leadership competence were higher in both the intervention and control groups, but the increase was significantly greater among students who participated in the DEU (25.84 % vs. 16.72 %, p = .012). Similar results were obtained in the expansion phase, with students in the intervention group once again showing a significant increase in perceived leadership skills (12.89 %, p = .005).
Conclusions
Student-led DEUs appear to be an effective way of enhancing perceived leadership competence among senior nursing students.
