Abstract
This study concerns nurse self-efficacy and the training needs of critical care nurses. Despite the growing literature on self-efficacy, limited research related to nurses' self-efficacy for performing skills is evident, and less again focused upon critical care nursing. A review of the literature on this topic suggested that self-efficacy increased with simulation or focused training (O'Leary et al., 2016, McDonough et al, 2016 and Goldsworthy, 2016).
The research questions for this study where:
1. self-efficacious do critical care nurses feel performing a range of essential tasks in the critical care environment?
2. How does nurses' length of service in critical care relate to their self-efficacy in the performance of a range of essential tasks in the critical care environment?
The study utilized a convenience sample of critical care nurses in a hospital on the South Island of New Zealand. Data were gathered using a 28-item survey, devised for the purposes of this study: the Nurse Self-Efficacy for Critical Care scale (NSECC). Potential participants were given a two-week timeframe to respond in August/September of 2020. Results were analyzed using IBM's SPSS 27 statistical software. Frequency distributions, descriptive statistics, correlational analysis and paired sample t-tests were calculated. The results indicated that experience correlated strongly with general self-efficacy, and slightly more for pediatric self-efficacy. Furthermore, the self-efficacy beliefs of critical care nurses in SICCU are high for skills that are performed regularly. However, in contrast, for seldom used skills, such as those related to pediatrics and in open chest procedures, self-efficacy is lowest. More frequent skill updates and increased simulation opportunities may help build stronger self-efficacy in the seldom used skills.