Özlem Ovayolu, Nimet Ovayolu, Onur Çetinkaya, Gülendam Karadağ

Aim: One of the goals of education is for individuals to be sensitive to events and conditions in life. Sensitivity, as an educational method and a value, is a phenomenon with increasing importance in contemporary world. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate sensitivity of nursing students towards social problems.

Method: This descriptive study was conducted with students studying at the nursing department of faculty of health sciences of a state university. While the population of the study consisted of all nursing students studying at the faculty; the sample consisted of totally 336 first-second-third- and fourth-students who agreed to participate in the study. Before conducting the study, informed consent of students and permission of the institution were received. The data of the study were collected by using the questionnaire and “Social Sensitivity Scale”.  Total scores to be obtained from scale ranged from 24 to 120 and high score signifies high sensitivity of students towards social problems. The obtained data were evaluated by using student t, one way anova, and Kruskal Wallis test.  

Outcomes: It was determined that 72.6% of the students were in the age group of 17-21 years, 37.8% were the first-year students, and 47.6% chose the profession “partially” voluntarily. Mean scores obtained by the students from the social sensitivity scale was found to be 110±0.6. Analysis revealed that those, who were in the age group of 17-21 years group, were the second-year students, stated they chose the profession “partially” voluntarily, and were female, had the highest social sensitivity score  (p<0.05).

Conclusion and Recommendations: It was determined that the students had high social sensitivity score and social sensitivity of the second-year students developed better. Therefore, it can be recommended to support students in terms of formation and development of social sensitivity starting from the start of undergraduate education.  

Key Words: Nursing, social sensitivity, nursing students

Correspondence: Nimet Ovayolu, PhD, RN, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey (ovayolu@gantep.edu.tr).