Assessment of students’ satisfaction with nursing studies at the Faculty of Health Science, Warsaw Medical University. Pilot study

Introduction

In accordance with the European Agreement on the Instruction and Education of Nurses and Midwives, drawn up in Strasbourg on 25 October, 1967 (Journal of Laws/Dz.U.96.83.384) and the Requirements on Teaching Nurses and Midwives resulting from Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September, 2005, on the recognition of professional qualifications (O.J. EU L.05.255.22), nurses should receive university-level education [1].
The assurance of proper completion of a curriculum and the development of an internal teaching quality assessment system that includes education quality assessment tools and assessment methods, constitute essential elements for the evaluation of a university-level school offering nursing programmes for students [2–4]. Analysis of the level of students’ satisfaction with learning is one of the most important elements of an internal teaching quality assessment system of every school [2–6].

Aim of the research

The aim of the study was to assess the satisfaction of students with the learning content and teaching methods in the field of nursing at the Faculty of Health Science, Warsaw Medical University. A detailed aim of the study was to compare the level of satisfaction with learning among nursing students between full-time MA students (ST) and part-time MA students (NST) at the Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw.

Material and methods

All second-year full-time and part-time students of a Master’s degree course in Nursing at the Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw, were invited to the study. The invitation to participate in the study was sent to personal email addresses of students registered in the University Central Students Database that is used by, among others, the Dean’s Office staff of the University. The total number of students invited to take part in the study amounted to 362 persons (164 full-time and 198 part-time students).
Finally, the study involved a total of 200 students: 195 women and 5 men, aged between 20 and 56 years (mean age: 34 years). The questionnaire return rate was 55%. Among the study group, 96% of the ST students and 99% of the NST students worked as a nurse during the time of the study.
The study was performed in March and April, 2012. Participation in the survey was voluntary. An anonymous questionnaire developed by the authors comprising a total of 27 close-ended questions constituted the research tool. The students received the questionnaire in the form of a link to an e-form. Answers to the questions were automatically saved in a Microsoft Excel document.

Statistical analysis

StatSoft Statistica 10.0 software (licensed to War­­saw Medical University) was used for statistical analysis of the results [5]. Owing to the fact that two separate groups of students: full-time (ST) students (group 1) and part-time (NST) students(group 2), were compared and due to the nature of the data (qualitative, non-parametric data) and the absence of normal distribution of the data (Shapiro-Wilk test: p > 0.05), the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used for the statistical analysis. The significance level was established at p < 0.05.

Results

The majority of ST and NST students were satisfied with studying Nursing at Medical University of Warsaw. The vast majority of the students reported that the number of lectures was sufficient. However, the difference between ST and NST students was statistically significant (p < 0.05); ST students more often said that the number of lectures was appropriate. The students from both groups reported that the number of hours of seminars, classes and professional training sessions was sufficient (p = NS). The vast majority of the ST and NST students expressed a preference to choose theoretical classes and seminars on their own, in accordance with their interests and the character of their job. See Table 1 for detailed data.
Among the study group, NST students, compared to ST students, significantly more often (p < 0.05) said that the curriculum of the MA programme in nursing included too few teaching hours in the following courses: Contracting Health Benefits, Law in Health Protection and European Nursing. See Table 2 for detailed data.
Compared to ST students, NST students significantly more often (p < 0.05) recognized the usefulness of the knowledge of the following courses: clinical sciences, managing in nursing, contracting health benefits, law in health protection, European nursing, teaching in nursing, nursing theories, and Psychotherapy. See Table 3 for detailed data.

Discussion

The available Polish scientific literature (Polish Medical Bibliography – PBL, records: students, nursing, satisfaction with learning) presents a multitude of publications directly or indirectly devoted to the assessment of teaching quality in the field of nursing at Polish university-level schools [7–24].
The level of teaching in the field of nursing at the Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw, was assessed highly by the students in the present study. In our study, the level of satisfaction with learning was close to or higher than those obtained by other authors [7–13, 17–24].
Most study participants assessed highly the qualifications of lecturers and teaching content of particular courses. The study participants found the knowledge of cardiac nursing and law in health protection very useful in their professional activity. The knowledge of the fields of psychotherapy and teaching in nursing was indicated as the least useful; therefore, it might be presumed that students defined the usefulness of the courses according to the possibility of using the acquired knowledge in practice. Most of the study participants were willing to choose theoretical courses, seminars and classes on their own in accordance with their interests and the character of their job.
According to the study group, the number of hours of seminars and theoretical classes offered in the curriculum was sufficient. The number of hours of seminars was too high for approximately one in five of the study participants. The number of hours of classes and professional trainings was sufficient for most study participants. According to the study population, the various teaching methods used to train nursing students were suitable for the teaching content; among the most frequent methods used during practical classes were the following: demonstration of activities, instruction, participation-based teaching and consolidation activities. Most study participants believed that consolidation activities were the most useful in teaching nurses.
The present study demonstrated that students considered the facilities and infrastructure of Warsaw Medical University as satisfactory; equipment and facilities in lecture halls were rated highest, whereas the catering and functioning of the Dean’s Office were rated lowest. Organisation of the course of studies was rated lowest by students from other university-level schools [13–19]. The functioning of the school administration and Dean’s Office is one of many aspects of the organisation of the course of studies that needs improvement. Other university-level schools also share this problem [21–24].

Conclusions

Teaching in the field in nursing met the expectations of both ST and NST students from the study group. The mode of study may influence the expectations of students regarding the curriculum, learning content and organisation of the course, as well as the level of satisfaction with education received. In the study group, the part-time students had greater expectations regarding the structure of the curriculum and the learning content. The level of satisfaction of students with learning should be assessed on a regular basis for continuous improvement and maintenance of high quality of teaching, and the study results should be introduced into the curriculum, learning content and teaching methods.

References

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Address for correspondence:

Prof. Joanna Gotlib MD, PhD
Division of Teaching and Outcomes of Education
Faculty of Health Science
Medical University of Warsaw
ul. Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
Phone:+48 22 572 04 90
Fax: +48 22 572 04 91
E-mail: joanna.gotlib@wum.edu.pl