The Effects of an Undergraduate Clinical Internship on the Self-Concept and Professional Role Mastery of Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether an eight-week undergraduate clinical course would enhance students' self-concepts and increase their perception of competence in critical care, teaching/collaboration, planning/evaluation, professional development, leadership and interpersonal skills, and communication. Research Questions: Is there a need for an undergraduate clinical internship? Will there be a difference in self-concept and perception of role mastery between the group of students who participated in the internship and those who did not participate? Methodology: Nursing students at the University who were between their junior and senior years were offered the opportunity to enroll in the course (didactic and clinical). Eight interns enrolled in the course; five non-interns enrolled in the didactic portion only; and the remaining 36 classmates were designated as the control group. Design: A pretest-post test designed was utilized. Two instruments were used: 1) The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and 2) The Six-Dimensional Scale of Nursing Performance. Results: One way ANOVA with .05 level of significance was used as the statistical test. There were no significant differences noted. Conclusions: The number of interns and non-interns was too small and the consequence is low statistical power. The generic program in nursing at this university provides a strong conceptual and practice base to students and an internship is unnecessary. The pretest-post test of the 6-D Scale of Nursing Performance may not be sensitive in picking up behavior changes when there are changes.