ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the status quo and influencing factors of caring efficacy of nursing undergraduate students so as to provide reference for improving their caring efficacy. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted. Totally 274 nursing undergraduate students from 10 general hospitals in Sichuan Province were surveyed by using general information questionnaire, professional model scale for nursing students, professional identity questionnaire for nursing students and caring efficacy scale. Results The average score of caring efficacy of undergraduate nursing students was (4.00 ±0.64), which was lower that of jurior nurse before training (4.55±0.34) and after training (4.98±0.27). The average score of career identity and professional model (3.63±0.68) were postively related with career effevtieness (all P＜0.001). The care from family, medical staffs, job-taking benefits and dimission risks, social comparison and self-reflection were the main factors influencing caring efficacy (P＜0.01), which explained 40.9％ of the varianceof caring efficacy among undergraduate nursing students. Conclusions Caring efficacy of the nursing students was above the middle level, but lower than that of clinical junior nurses. Their professional model and professional identity were positively correlated with caring efficacy. It is necessary to establish a good professional model, through example education, perfect career planning and improve the professional identity of nursing undergraduate students, so as to improve their caring efficacy of nursing students, and then improve the quality of nursing team reserves.