Nursing students' achievement emotions in association with clinical practicums and alternative learning

Objectives: This study aimed to identify and compare nursing students' achievement emotions associated with clinical practicums and alternative learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study enrolled 236 nursing students. Participants completed a web-based, self-administered survey regarding achievement emotions. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to calculate mean differences in achievement emotions associated with clinical practicums and alternative learning.Results: Nursing students who undertook e-learning reported higher negative achievement emotions than those who experienced other alternative learning modalities. Higher achievement emotions were associated with clinical practicums than with alternative learning. The most frequently reported negative emotions were anxiety associated with clinical practicums and boredom with alternative learning.Conclusions: Nurse educators should design and implement supportive clinical learning experiences to engender productive achievement emotions. Implications for an international audience: Nurse educators should play roles in providing well-designed and supportive clinical learning environments to help nursing students regulate achievement emotions.

Automated summary

This study aimed to compare nursing students' achievement emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in clinical practicums and alternative learning. The study found that students who engaged in e-learning reported higher negative achievement emotions, while clinical practicums were associated with higher levels of positive achievement emotions compared to alternative learning. The most frequently reported negative emotions were anxiety in clinical practicums and boredom in alternative learning.