Factors Influencing Canadian Nursing Students' Confidence, Perceptions, and Interest in Primary Care
Abstract
Background: As team-based primary care expands in Canada, efforts to prepare Registered Nurses for primary care practice are growing. Learning experiences influence students' career-related confidence, perceptions, and interest. No studies have examined Canadian nursing students' academic exposure to primary care (i.e., in undergraduate programs) or the contribution of exposure to their confidence, perceptions, and interest in practicing in primary care.
Purpose: To examine the influence of Canadian nursing education on final-year baccalaureate nursing students’ confidence, perceptions, and interest related to practicing in primary care.
Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional study of final-year baccalaureate students from accredited nursing programs across Canada (October-December 2024). Our survey included items about sociodemographic characteristics, non-academic and academic primary care experiences, and modified versions of two previously validated tools: the Confidence and Interest in Critical Care Nursing scale and the Scale on Community Health Perceptions Profession Subscale. We used bivariate analysis to compare students with and without academic primary care exposure across sociodemographics, non-academic primary care experiences, and primary care career-related confidence, perceptions, and interest. Using linear regression, we examined how both academic and non-academic exposures related to confidence, perceptions, and interest.
Results: In our sample of 304 completed surveys, 189 (62.2%) students had academic exposure to primary care nursing and 115 (37.8%) did not. When controlling for other factors, students with academic exposure had higher confidence (b=1.27, p=0.015), employment conditions perceptions (b=1.08, p=0.009), and nature of work perceptions (b=2.11, p=0.002). Academic exposure was not associated with perception of care provision or interest. Non-academic factors, including prior education level and personal or family/friend employment in primary care were also associated with confidence; and perceptions of care provision, employment conditions, and/or the nature of work (p<0.05).
Implications: Findings suggest Canadian undergraduate nursing education, along with non-academic factors, influences students’ primary care career-related confidence and perceptions. To support primary care careers, undergraduate programs should expand students' exposure and develop guiding national or global primary care education frameworks.
Notes
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Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Primary Care, Workforce, Teaching and Learning Strategies, Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Student Attitudes, Primary Health Care, Canada
Recommended Citation
Curnew, Deanne; Lukewich, Julia; Mathews, Maria; Poitras, Marie-eve; Stevens, Kathleen; Leamon, Toni; Deveau, Kennedy; Epp, Sheila; Morin, Anaëlle; and Smith, Keirsten, "Factors Influencing Canadian Nursing Students' Confidence, Perceptions, and Interest in Primary Care" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 74.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/74
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-07-27
Factors Influencing Canadian Nursing Students' Confidence, Perceptions, and Interest in Primary Care
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Background: As team-based primary care expands in Canada, efforts to prepare Registered Nurses for primary care practice are growing. Learning experiences influence students' career-related confidence, perceptions, and interest. No studies have examined Canadian nursing students' academic exposure to primary care (i.e., in undergraduate programs) or the contribution of exposure to their confidence, perceptions, and interest in practicing in primary care.
Purpose: To examine the influence of Canadian nursing education on final-year baccalaureate nursing students’ confidence, perceptions, and interest related to practicing in primary care.
Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional study of final-year baccalaureate students from accredited nursing programs across Canada (October-December 2024). Our survey included items about sociodemographic characteristics, non-academic and academic primary care experiences, and modified versions of two previously validated tools: the Confidence and Interest in Critical Care Nursing scale and the Scale on Community Health Perceptions Profession Subscale. We used bivariate analysis to compare students with and without academic primary care exposure across sociodemographics, non-academic primary care experiences, and primary care career-related confidence, perceptions, and interest. Using linear regression, we examined how both academic and non-academic exposures related to confidence, perceptions, and interest.
Results: In our sample of 304 completed surveys, 189 (62.2%) students had academic exposure to primary care nursing and 115 (37.8%) did not. When controlling for other factors, students with academic exposure had higher confidence (b=1.27, p=0.015), employment conditions perceptions (b=1.08, p=0.009), and nature of work perceptions (b=2.11, p=0.002). Academic exposure was not associated with perception of care provision or interest. Non-academic factors, including prior education level and personal or family/friend employment in primary care were also associated with confidence; and perceptions of care provision, employment conditions, and/or the nature of work (p<0.05).
Implications: Findings suggest Canadian undergraduate nursing education, along with non-academic factors, influences students’ primary care career-related confidence and perceptions. To support primary care careers, undergraduate programs should expand students' exposure and develop guiding national or global primary care education frameworks.
Description
This session will provide an overview of findings from a Canadian national survey study that examined how academic and non-academic primary care experiences influence final-year nursing students’ confidence, perceptions, and interest in primary care careers. It offers insights for educators, employers, and policymakers aiming to strengthen the future of primary care education and training.