Comparison of the Recognition of Novice Nurses’ Learning Needs between Novice and Instructor Nurses

Abstract

〔Aims〕To clarify differences in the recognition of novice nurses’ learning needs between novice and instructor nurses, focusing on the <necessity of learning> and <demand for learning>.

〔Methods〕 Free descriptions of the <necessity of learning> and <demand for learning>, collected from 132 novices and 146 instructors, were examined using content analysis, the chi-square test, and bubble charts.

〔Results〕Ten core categories outlining learning needs were created. When focusing on the <necessity of learning>, the rate of mentioning [Ⅳ. Ethical practice] was significantly higher among the instructors, and that for [Ⅱ. Treatment and care] was significantly higher among the novices. The novices also showed significantly higher rates for 4 core categories representing the <demand for learning>. On analyzing bubble charts, bubbles representing the novices’ <demand for learning> and the instructors’recognition of the <necessity of learning> for them were distant. In contrast, bubbles representing the <demand for learning> for the novices and the instructors’ recognition of their <demands for learning> were adjacent to each other.

〔Conclusions〕The instructors recognized that the learning content that they considered necessary for was also necessary for novice, and at the same time suggested that they did not recognized the learning that novice demand. It was also suggested that instructors misunderstood <necessity of learning> as <demand for learning> at the novice.