Social problem-solving in Chinese baccalaureate nursing students

Objective: To describe social problem solving in Chinese baccalaureate nursing students.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a cluster sample of 681 Chinese baccalaureate nursing students. The Chinese version of the Social Problem-Solving scale was used. Descriptive analyses, independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance were applied to analyze the data.

Findings: The final year nursing students presented the highest scores of positive social problem-solving skills. Students with experiences of self-directed and problem-based learning presented significantly higher scores in Positive Problem Orientation subscale. The group with Critical thinking training experience, however, displayed higher negative problem solving scores compared with nonexperience group.

Conclusions: Social problem solving abilities varied based upon teaching-learning strategies. Self-directed and problem-based learning may be recommended as effective way to improve social problem-solving ability.