Are academic self-efficacy and fear of negative evaluation related to nursing students' clinical competence?

Abstract Background Acquiring the clinical competence of nursing students is the ultimate goal and the criterion of the effectiveness of education, which includes the ability to use knowledge and information, communication and interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and technical skills. The researchers believe that to maintain nursing care standards, it is necessary to know the factors related to the improvement of their clinical competence, so the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between academic self-efficacy and fear of negative evaluation and the clinical competence of nursing students. Methods This cross-sectional descriptive research was conducted on 346 nursing students from the second to eighth semesters in 1402 through available sampling. The data were collected using questionnaires on demographic characteristics, clinical competence of nursing students, academic self-efficacy, and fear of negative evaluation. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics and a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS version 22 software. Results The results of this study showed that the highest level of clinical competence of students was in the emotional dimension with a mean of 21.47±4.04, and that there was a positive and significant relationship between academic self-efficacy and clinical competence in all three cognitive dimensions (r=0.292, p<0.001), emotional (r=0.320, p<0.001) and psycho-motor (r=0.329, p<0.001). There was also a negative and significant relationship between fear of negative evaluation and all three dimensions of cognitive clinical competency (r=_0.117, p=0.001), emotional (r=_0.162, p=0.003), and psychomotor (r=_0.144, p=0.007). Conclusion The results showed that the clinical competence of nursing students in all three dimensions was at an average level and had a significant relationship with fear of negative evaluation and academic self-efficacy, so nursing students with higher academic self-efficacy and less fear of negative evaluation, and competence. They had better clinical results, so it is recommended to identify and use effective programs to improve these factors in relevant educational programs.