Determinants of Problem-Solving Skills of Nursing Students: Solution-Focused Thinking Skills and Emotional Intelligence

Background: Problem-solving skills are some of the leading strategies for dynamism in the content and quality of nursing care. Aim: The present study is aimed at determining nursing students' problem-solving, solution-focused thinking, and emotional intelligence levels and investigating the relationship between their problem-solving skills and these variables. Methods: The study comprised 305 nursing students in Turkey. Data were collected between May and June 2021, using the personal information form, problem-solving inventory, solution-focused inventory and Schutte emotional intelligence scale. One-way ANOVA, t-test and multiple regression were used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants was 21.81 ± 5.93 years, 75.7% of them were women, 35.1% were senior students and 58.0% perceived their academic achievement as moderate. The mean scores from the overall problem-solving inventory, solution-focused inventory, and emotional intelligence scale were 92.93 ± 19.30, 50.26 ± 8.43 and 128.22 ± 14.11, respectively. Variables such as sex, perceived academic achievement, emotional intelligence and solution-focused thinking levels affected problem-solving skills (p < 0.01). The effective predictive factors accounted for 50.2% of the change in participants' problem-solving skill levels. Conclusion: For this reason, revising the national nursing curriculum with programmes that develop emotional intelligence and solution-focused thinking skills will enable nursing students to better manage the nursing process in clinical and field practices.