Enhancing Happiness for Nursing Students through Positive Psychology Activities: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate a program promoting character strengths, positive psychological capital, learning flow, and sense of calling for nursing students. We conducted a concurrent embedded mixed methods study with 51 nursing students randomly classified into an intervention or a control group. The intervention group exhibited significantly higher scores than the control group for positive psychological capital, learning flow, and sense of calling. Program participation experiences were categorized as “change of views about oneself”, “change of views about the world”, “stress relief”, and “practice of positivity”. Among nursing students, this program demonstrated change toward a positive, committed, and meaningful life.

Predictors and correlates of Saudi nursing students' grit and positive thinking amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A correlation between grit and positive thinking was identified among high school students, with a statistically significant positive correlation. According to Han et al (2020) , as an individual's positive thinking scale scores grow, so does their grit score. Thus, students with more grit think more positively, and having more grit indicates that the student is more persevering and hopeful ( Han et al, 2020 ).…”

“…According to Han et al (2020) , as an individual's positive thinking scale scores grow, so does their grit score. Thus, students with more grit think more positively, and having more grit indicates that the student is more persevering and hopeful ( Han et al, 2020 ). When nursing students deal with stress, despair, and the possible verge of self-harm or suicide, it is crucial to assess their positive thinking.…”

“…Another approach to developing grit is forming strong habits and weaning oneself off motivation, as grit is not about receiving an abundance of enthusiasm or confidence. Rather, it should be about building daily habits that enable an individual to achieve deadlines consistently and persevere in the face of distractions ( Han et al, 2020 ; Mason, 2018 ; Ramsay et al, 2020 ).…”

Investigation of the effect of the life satisfaction and psychological well‐being of nursing students on their happiness levels

“…Thai university students have been reported to have lower happiness than students from the United States and England (Calderon et al, 2021). Han et al (2020) applied positive psychology activities, which were effective in impacting the happiness of nursing students. The activities created change for a positive, determined, and meaningful life where students enjoy their university life.…”

Development of the Psychological Capital Scale for Male Nursing Students in Taiwan and Testing Its Measurement Invariance between Genders

“…Hence, PsyCap is viewed as an index to assess factors involving one’s positive psychological development, such as success, learning satisfaction, well-being reinforcement, and achieving desirable goals [ 15 ]. Students with lower PsyCap had higher dropout rates [ 16 ]; however, nursing students with higher PsyCap would take different viewpoints towards learning stress and perform better in learning adjustment [ 17 ]. Eun and Mi-Ra [ 18 ] pointed out that PsyCap has a significant positive correlation with academic achievement.…”