Factors Predicting Rational Drug Use Among Nursing Students in Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Nakhon Ratchasima

Abstract

The Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council developed drug use guidelines to improve rational drug use competency among nursing students. The purposes of this survey study were to: 1) determine the relationships between teaching style for knowledge promotion, teaching style for attitude promotion, teaching style for skill promotion, learning facilitation, information retrieval skills, and rational drug use (RDU) competencies among nursing students, and 2) investigate factors predicting RDU among nursing students at the Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Nakhon Ratchasima. The sample was 324 second to fourth year nursing students. The instruments of this study were 1) the teaching style for knowledge promotion questionnaire, 2) the teaching style for attitude promotion questionnaire, 3) the teaching style for skill promotion questionnaire, 4) learning facilitation questionnaire, 5) the questionnaire of Information Retrieval Skills, and 6) the questionnaire of RDU competencies for nursing students. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. The research results showed that the students’ RDU competencies were at good level. There were positive correlations between the teaching styles for knowledge promotion, attitude promotion, skill promotion, learning facilitation, information retrieval skills, and RDU competencies (r = .369, r = .478, r = .374, r = .410, r = .494 at p < .01 respectively).  All of the factors except teaching style for attitude promotion can explain 38.2 percent (p < .05) of the variance in RDU competencies. The study results can be used as base data for RDU teaching development among nursing students.