Assertiveness and its associations among nursing undergraduates in General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Assertiveness is considered as a valuable skill in the nursing profession as it contributes to strengthening interprofessional relationships, preventing workplace violence, reducing occupational stresses, minimizing negligence, and improving nurses' leadership ability, job satisfaction, professional autonomy, and professional efficacy. Therefore, assertiveness is an important skill that should be developed from the beginning of nursing studentship. However, there is a dearth of studies published on assertiveness among nursing students in Sri Lanka. The aim of this study was to assess the assertiveness and its association with the socio-demographic variables among the BSc. Nursing undergraduates at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), Sri Lanka. The study was conducted as a descriptive cross-sectional study among all (n=147) nursing undergraduates of KDU during the period January to June 2021. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic data and a validated Sinhala version of the assertiveness scale developed by Begley and Glacken, 2004 to measure the level of assertiveness. The study instruments were shared online once informed consent was obtained. The data were analysed using SPSS 23.0, and descriptive statistics followed by the independent sample t-test and the oneway ANOVA test were used to estimate population parameters. The mean assertiveness of the study population was 81.35± 6.51. The majority (74.8%) of the study population was females. Many participants had attended leadership programmes (85.7%) and assertiveness training programmes (19.7%) conducted by the University and other institutes. The assertiveness is not significantly different within the associated factors such as gender, marital status, nationality, parents’ assertiveness, age group, number in the family, academic year, English proficiency, childhood trauma, the assertiveness of close peers, interest in the nursing profession and other course work (P>0.05). A greater assertiveness was found among the nursing undergraduates enrolled to KDU. However, there were no statistically significant mean differences found on assertiveness among socio-demographic variables. Frequent assessments are recommended to identify the nursing students who need special attention to enhance their assertiveness skills.