Caring behavior in nursing practice of the first batch nurse graduates, Princess Agrarajakumari Faculty of Nursing, Chulabhorn Royal Academy as perceived by nurse graduates, supervisors, and colleagues

Abstract

This descriptive research aimed to 1) examine the caring behaviors in nursing practice among the first batch nurse graduates from Princess Agrarajakumari Faculty of Nursing, Chulabhorn Royal Academy, as perceived by the nurse graduates, supervisors, and colleagues and 2) compare perceived caring behavior among these three groups. The sample consisted of 37 graduated nurses, 16 supervisors, and 37 colleagues. The research instrument was a questionnaire on caring behaviors in nursing practice, developed based on Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, encompassing all ten Carative factors. Content validity was assessed by three experts, yielding a content validity index (CVI) of 1.00.  The questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.96.  Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and post hoc test using the Bonferroni method. The findings revealed that the mean score of perceived caring behaviors in nursing practice from nurse graduates, supervisors, and colleagues were all at a high level (M= 2.64, SD = 0.29; M= 2.53, SD = 0.27; and M= 2.38, SD = 0.34, respectively). Furthermore, the nurse graduates' perception of their own caring behaviors was significantly higher than the supervisors' perception at p < .05.