Attitude of Nursing Students towards Internet Plus Nursing Service

Abstract

Background: In 2019, China completed the pilot project “Internet Plus Nursing Service.” The study aimed to investigate the attitude, willingness, and motivation of third-year undergraduate nursing students toward “Internet Plus Nursing Service,” providing a reference for the development of “Internet Plus Nursing Service” and related nursing education. Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised 508 third-year undergraduate nursing students from a public University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, using a self-designed survey.Results: Of these 508 nursing students, 314 (61.81%) expressed support for the implementation of “Internet Plus Nursing Service,” 150 (29.52%) remained neutral and 44 (8.66%) expressed disapproval. In regards to career choice, 279 (54.92%) were willing to choose “Internet Plus Nursing Service” as their future career choice, 51 (10.04%) were unwilling, and 178 (35.04%) were unsure. The top three motivations to choose “Internet Plus Nursing Service” as their future career choice were added income, high autonomy and flexibility, and good job prospects. On the contrary, the top three motivation not to choose were safety concern, lack of time and energy, unwilling elderly care. gender, whether an only child or not, home location, and degree of knowledge and skills required for elderly care were not significantly associated with the willingness of nursing students to participate in “Internet Plus Nursing Service” (P > 0.05). Experience of community activities or a part-time job, elderly care experience, choice of nursing profession, satisfaction with nursing profession, willingness to engage in nursing work after graduation, and willingness to engage in elder care work were significantly associated with the willingness of nursing students to participate in “Internet Plus Nursing Service” (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Students had a positive attitude towards “Internet Plus Nursing Service” and were willing to choose “Internet Plus Nursing Service” as their future career choice. However, they lacked the willingness to engage in elder care after graduation. School education should strengthen the nursing education of elder care, develop a diversified nursing service model and professional training programs that meet social demands and professional needs, as well as address the opportunities and challenges of the Internet era.