Learning Motivation and Self-Efficacy towards Improved Clinical Performance in Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Learning motivation promotes academic achievement, satisfaction and education of students. Self-efficacy helps students overcome challenges associated with clinical nursing education. A gap remains in the literature related to learning motivation and self efficacy in undergraduate nursing programs. Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between learning motivation and self-efficacy among undergraduate nursing students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on undergraduate nursing students from a public university in Saudi Arabia from February 2021 to April 2021. The Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ-II) to assess motivation and General Self-Efficacy (GSE) scale to assess self efficacy were used for data collection. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 26.0, bivariate analyses were used where needed and multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between motivation levels and self-efficacy while controlling for demographic variables. Results: A total of 110 undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. Most of the sample reported a slightly high level of both learning motivation with a mean of 75.5, range: 8-100 and self-efficacy with a mean of 29.3, range: 1-40. None of the demographic variables were significantly associated with either learning motivation or self-efficacy (p-value>0.05). Learning motivation was found to have a strong, positive and significant correlation (r-value=0.663, p-value<0.001) with self efficacy. In regression, learning motivation was the only variable significantly associated with self-efficacy (beta=0.655, p-value <0.05). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that motivation is critical in explaining attitudes, predicting consequences of actions, and directing behavior to fulfill the goals of clinical courses. Self efficacy is another important factor in student nurses' progress.