A Community Practice Program to Enhance Nursing Students' Career Motivation in Geriatric Nursing

Enhancing BSN Students' Career Motivation in Supporting Underprivileged Older Adults Through a Community Practice Program: A Wait-list Randomized Controlled Study

The nursing students' community practice program is nested within the mHealth-based healthcare professional-lay health worker partnership program (mHLPP). This sub-project aims to equip undergraduate nursing students with the necessary skills and knowledge to care for underprivileged older adults.

The study includes two phases: (1) a wait-list randomized controlled study (Year 1) to evaluate the intervention effectiveness, and (2) a quasi-experimental study (Year 2) for intervention optimization. In the first phase, participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the wait-list control group. The intervention group will undergo a PERMA Model-Based Community Practice Program, including an orientation, three practicum sessions, and a reflective session. In the second phase, participants of will receive a Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior (COM-B) Model Based Community Practicum Program with increased intervention frequency.

Inclusion Criteria:

• (1) being a full-time student in the first year of the nursing program; (2) being capable to communicate in Cantonese; (3) providing voluntary written informed consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• (1) having prior work experience in a dedicated aged care setting (e.g., as a nursing assistant in a nursing home); (2) having a planned absence during the intervention period that would cause them to miss more than two sessions of the program.