Caring Education and Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Becoming a Nurse, Professional Values, and Caring Behaviors: A Mixed-Methods Study

Background Caring education may contribute to nursing students’ professional development by strengthening their understanding of professional values, caring, and nursing roles. However, its influence on perceptions of becoming a nurse, professional values, and caring behaviors requires further investigation. Methods An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (QUAN→qual) was employed, incorporating a nonrandomized controlled pretest–posttest quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase. Second-year nursing students who enrolled in a seven-week, 28-hour Caring Behaviors Development course grounded in Watson’s Human Caring Theory constituted the intervention group, whereas students who did not enroll constituted the control group. Seventy-four students completed the quantitative phase (intervention, n = 19; control, n = 55), and 16 students participated in qualitative interviews. Quantitative outcomes included perceptions of becoming a nurse, professional values, and caring behaviors. Qualitative data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, and quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated using a joint display matrix. Results After adjustment for baseline scores and Holm–Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, no statistically significant between-group differences remained in total or subscale scores for perceptions of becoming a nurse, professional values, or caring behaviors. Qualitative analysis generated six themes. Students in the intervention group linked their professional development and caring experiences primarily to structured education, whereas students in the control group emphasized clinical experiences, role models, and personal experiences. Integration of the findings indicated that the groups differed more clearly in how students understood and attributed their professional development and caring experiences than in quantitative scale scores. Conclusions The Caring Behaviors Development course did not produce statistically significant short-term between-group differences in the measured quantitative outcomes after correction for multiple comparisons. However, qualitative findings suggest that structured caring education may contribute to how nursing students understand their professional development and caring experiences. These findings highlight the value of combining quantitative and qualitative approaches when evaluating caring-focused nursing education.