A cross-sectional survey on the relationship between metacognitive ability and completion ability among Chinese nursing students: the mediating role of perceived campus atmosphere ability and the moderation of simulation teaching method.

Background: With the continuous development of medical technology, the demand for high-quality of nursing student training is increasing, and nursing, as an important part of health care service work, is facing new challenges. In recent years, the proportion of nursing undergraduates among registered nurses in China has been increasing year by year. Enhancing the completion ability of nursing students and improving the quality of undergraduate nursing training is a need for the development of nursing education. This study aimed to investigate the correlation among metacognitive ability, perceived campus atmosphere ability, and completion ability in nursing students. It also examined the mediating role of perceived campus atmosphere ability between metacognitive ability and completion ability, as well as the moderating impact of the simulation teaching method.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed, recruiting 775 nursing students from 14 universities using a multi-center stratified random sampling method between August and November 2023. Various questionnaires, including a general information questionnaire, metacognitive ability questionnaire, perceived campus atmosphere questionnaire, and completion ability questionnaire, were utilized in the survey. PROCESS Macro for SPSS 26.0 was used to examine the mediating impact. The Bootstrap approach was used to assess the mediating effect model.

Results: The total completion ability score was 171.17 ± 44.30 points. Metacognitive ability showed a positive correlation with completion ability ([Formula: see text]=0.724, P < 0.01). Perceived campus atmosphere ability was positively correlated with metacognitive ability ([Formula: see text]=0.418, P < 0.01) and completion ability ([Formula: see text]=0.398, P < 0.01), acting as a partial mediator between them. The simulation teaching method moderated the relationship between metacognitive ability and completion ability, with metacognitive ability having a more significant predictive effect on the completion ability of nursing students who received simulation teaching.

Conclusions: The completion ability of nursing students is at a medium level and has significant potential for improvement. Enhancing metacognitive ability and perceived campus atmosphere can boost the completion ability of nursing students, particularly those who received simulation teaching.

Clinical Trial Number: Not applicable.