The Mediating Effect of Self-Management Competency on the Relationship between Social Anxiety and Clinical Competency in the First Clinical Practice of Nursing Students

Objectives This study was conducted to investigate the mediating effect of self-management competency in the relationship between social anxiety and clinical competency in nursing students' first clinical practice. This study analyzed the differences in social anxiety, self-management competency and clinical competency before and during clinical practice in nursing students' first clinical practice and verified the mediating effect of self-management competency in the relationship between social anxiety and clinical competency. Methods The subjects of the study were 95 third-year nursing students experiencing their first clinical practice at a university in Chungbuk. The research data measured social anxiety, self-management competency and clinical competency twice before and during the first clinical practice. The difference analysis before and during the first clinical practice was performed by paired t-test, the relationship between variables was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis, and the mediating analysis was analyzed by hierarchical regression analysis and the significance of the path was analyzed by boostwrapping using SPSS macro process Model 4. Results In the first clinical practice of nursing students, there was no significant difference between social anxiety and self-management competency, but clinical competency was significantly improved in the measurement results before and during clinical practice. The relationship between variables showed a negative correlation between social anxiety and self-management competency, and a negative correlation between social anxiety and clinical competency but a positive correlation between self-management competency and clinical competency. This study found full mediating effect of self-management competency on the relationship between social anxiety and clinical competency. Conclusions The Self-management competency has been identified as a necessary competency to overcome social anxiety and achieve the goal of clinical competency in nursing students' university life and clinical practice, and it is necessary to develop a program to improve self-management competency in the future.