Coping self-efficacy of Chinese nursing undergraduates with their research projects

• The coping self-efficacy of Chinese nursing undergraduates with their research projects were in the moderate level.
• The information techniques for the project application were not abundant enough.
• The previous capability of writing paper and their topics that were decided by their instructors after discussion among group members were the two predictors of good coping self-efficacy with their research projects.

BackgroundUndergraduate nursing education includes both professional knowledge and research skills. With regard to training nursing professionals for future healthcare settings, the ability to conduct research is fundamental for nurses after they graduate from universities. However, how nursing students develop coping self-efficacy and scientific skills as a specific ability during their professional study has received little attention.ObjectivesWe studied nursing undergraduates' scientific research ability and its associated factors in the Chinese context and evaluated their self-efficacy for coping with research tasks.MethodsA total of 134 nursing undergraduates participated in the study. A purposely designed 22-item questionnaire was used to quantify students' research ability in implementing their research projects and the associated factors. Coping self-efficacy was measured with a modified Chinese version.ResultsThe mean total self-efficacy score was 50.78 ± 6.604 (M ± SD). The majority (63.4%) of the students' coping self-efficacy was at a moderate level. Having “the ability to write a manuscript before conducting research projects” (P = 0.006) and “topics determined by instructors after discussion with group members” (P = 0.005) were the two predictive factors of good coping self-efficacy in students.ConclusionNursing undergraduates' self-efficacy was high enough to cope with their scientific research projects, but the information on procedures needed for project application was not abundant, and new training programs might be needed to meet the needs of nursing undergraduates. We should make full use of the predictors of good coping self-efficacy and promote nursing undergraduates' research ability.