Development of Life Skills Training Program to Promote Resilience among Nursing Students

Abstract

Life skill training to enhance student nurses’ resilience is necessary. The purpose of this research were 1) to study the resilience and guidelines for improving the resilience of nursing students; 2) to develop a life skills training program; and 3) to study the effectiveness of the program. The research design of this study was Research and Development. The program was undertaken with 3rd year nursing students, Boromarajonnani College of Nursing, Chon Buri. The sample comprised 127 students. The research instruments consisted of a life skills training program and the resilience scale with reliability at .80. The data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation and t-tests. Qualitative data were analyzed by using content analysis.

Result of the study were as follows: The nursing students had the resilience score at the low level ( =63.53, SD=7.66)  before joining the life skills program. The guidelines for improving the resilience for nursing students were that there should be teaching and learning that promotes resilience so that students can develop themselves to be able to effectively deal with situations that cause complications or crises in life by using a variety of group processes and teaching methods. The life skills training program t consists of 6 sets of components, including 1) Resilience, 2) Self-esteem, 3) Thinking and decision making, 4) Stress and anger management, 5) Effective communication, and 6) Preparation for dealing with unexpected situations. The program implementation included 50 minutes of activity twice a week for 3 weeks. The study of the effectiveness of the program was students after joining the activities found that they had developed a high level of resilience  (= 114.49, SD=6.46). In conclusion, the life skills training program can promote the resilience for nursing students.