A Predictive Model for Nursing Students’ Person-Centered Care Competency: Focusing on Patients with Dementia

This study aimed to verify a prediction model identifying the causal relationships and paths among factors that affect Korean nursing students’ provision of person-centered care to patients with dementia. This was a covariance structure analysis study to establish a hypothetical model of 313 Korean nursing students located in a metropolitan area. IBM SPSS version 18.0(Chicago, IL, USA) and AMOS version 5.0(Chicago, IL, USA) were used to analyze the data. Structural equation modeling analysis was applied to verify convergent and discriminant validity using higher-order factor analysis in the final model analysis. The model fit indices of the research model were as follows: χ²/df=1.83(p<.001), GFI=.91, AGFI=.88, NFI=.91, CFI=.90, RMR=.04, and RMSEA=.05. The factors affecting person-centered care, clinical practice adaptation (γ=.02, p=.014), nursing professionalism (γ=.45, p=.024), and empathy (γ=.21, p<.001) had direct effects, whereas clinical practice adaptation (γ=.21, p=.013) and nursing professionalism (γ=.08, p=.004) had indirect effects. These factors can explain 40% of the variance in person-centered care. This study is significant because it provides basic data for developing an educational program that can improve the person-centered care capacity of domestic nursing students by confirming that clinical practice adaptation, nursing professionalism, and empathy are essential factors that affect person-centered care.