Assessment of the sense of belongingness among nursing students in clinical placement at selected hospital settings of Northern Province in Rwanda

Abstract

Introduction: The concept of a sense of belongingness has been found to be a fundamental human need which affects psychological, cognitive, and social well-being within a certain group of people. It has the role to influence overall better mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes in goal achievement. It consists of and refers to one‟s feeling of deep social, interpersonal connection and collective experiences. Contextually, nursing students in their clinical placement need to belong to the wide clinical team for their ongoing learning during their clinical period

Purpose: This study primarily aimed to assess the sense of belongingness among undergraduate nursing students in Rwanda and the factors associated with the sense of belongingness Methodology: The study used a quantitative, descriptive cross sectional convenient sampling was used to recruit 181 undergraduate nursing students as participants. An adopted validated and reliable tool was administered as an online platform to collect data. By using SPSS version 21, data were retrieved, imported and analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics; Chi-Square and odd ratio were used to describe the sense of belongingness and its associated factors. Results: Good sense of belongingness was found reported among 95 respondents (52.5%, N=181) whereas a poor sense of belongingness was reported among 86 respondents (47.5%). Only level of the hospital has shown a statistically significant association with a sense of belongingness among other demographic data. Moreover, by assessing the factors influencing sense of belongingness, 8 factors named Perception (OR:1.721, 1.281-2.171,95 %CI, P-value:0.022), Presence of good friends (support from others) (P=0.021), Respect, Competence and self confidence (OR:3.11,0.141-6.623, 95%CI, P-value: 0.012), Equity (OR=2.112,1.241-5.123, 95% CI, P-value: 0.002), Active participation and supportive staff (OR=2.111, 6.032-9.321 95% CI, P-value=0.044), Clinical supervision and mentorship (OR:2.321,1.991-7.45, P-value: 0.038), Learning opportunities (OR=3.121,1.922- 9.715 95% CI, P-value=0.045). Those factors are the most influencers of the sense of belongingness among undergraduate nursing students with the meaningful odd ratio

Conclusion: The sense of belongingness among nursing students in clinical placement is influenced by several factors. There is a need for further researches to explore the influence of each factor.