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Background: A shift of health care services towards community care has driven the need to develop the community care nursing workforce. However, challenges exist in attracting nursing graduates to a career in community care., Aim: To examine perceptions of community care and placement preference among undergraduate nursing students across different years of study in a Singapore university., Methods: This study examined perceptions of community care and placement preference among undergraduate nursing students across different years of study. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the 'Scale on COmmunity care Perceptions' (SCOPE)., Results: Only 31.3 % of the 501 nursing students who completed the survey preferred community care placement. They rated opportunities for advancement, work status and enthusiastic colleagues in community care with relatively lower scores in the SCOPE. Students' placement preferences and year of study were predictive factors of their perceptions of community care nursing. Students who indicated their placement preference in home-based care (p < 0.001) and intermediate long-term care (p < 0.05) reported significantly positive perceptions towards community nursing as compared to students who indicated acute care as their preferred placement. Despite pre-perceived ideas among the year 1 cohort, the community care placement within their course curriculum had an impact on year 2 to 4 students' perceptions of community care., Conclusions: These findings identified key strategies to increase the community care nursing workforce which include promoting a better understanding of the role of a community nurse, providing quality community placement opportunities supported by preceptors who are good role models and fostering an optimistic career outlook and advancement in community nursing., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declares that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Non-cognitive skills are crucial for nursing students to achieve their academic performance successfully and perform clinical practice effectively. Although different non-cognitive assessment tools have been established in various disciplines, few are focused on nursing students., Objective: The study aims to develop and psychometrically validate the Non-Cognitive Skills Scale (NCSS) for nursing students., Design: Qualitative and quantitative research design., Setting: One university in Singapore., Participants: A total of 347 nursing educators and students participated in this study., Methods: A two-phase design was used. In the first phase, focus group discussions and literature reviews were conducted to generate the preliminary items of the NCSS. Content validity was established with an expert panel of 10 members, and the tool was pilot tested on 20 students. In the second phase, the number of items was reduced based on correlation coefficients and factor loading. The psychometric properties of the NCSS were tested on survey responses from 300 students. The Brief Resilience Scale, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, and Big Five Inventory-10 were used to investigate concurrent and convergent validity., Results: A 39-item six-factor NCSS was developed with satisfactory model fit indices (χ 2 /df: 1.60, IFI: 0.92, TLI: 0.90, CFI: 0.92 and RMSEA: 0.05). Content validity was confirmed with a content validity index of 0.90. A pilot test was conducted to improve readability and clarity. Known-group validity discriminated against age and gender group differences in a predictable way. Concurrent validity and convergent validity were confirmed with acceptable correlation coefficients. Cronbach's α was 0.91, and test-retest reliability was 0.84., Conclusions: The NCSS is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the non-cognitive attributes of nursing students. This scale can be considered an admission tool for selecting the suitability of nursing applicants for nursing programmes. Further validation of NCSS is needed using a longitudinal study design in multiple settings across countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Noncognitive skills have a considerable role in influencing nursing students' performance in clinical and educational settings. Understanding how nursing students and educators perceive noncognitive skills is important given the broad classifications of noncognitive competencies., Objective: This study sought to examine nursing students' and educators' perception of noncognitive skills., Design: This study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach., Setting: This study was conducted virtually via Zoom in one university in Singapore., Participants: Purposive sampling through a maximum variation technique was used to select 35 nursing students and 12 educators., Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted through eight virtual face-to-face focus group discussions. Interviews were audio- and videorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed through thematic analysis., Results: The participants stated that individual and interpersonal skills contribute to one's noncognitive skills. Two themes emerged from the participants' narratives: (1) the ability to manage oneself and (2) social interactions with others. The first theme describes the various individual characteristics such as growth mindset, adaptability, resilience, and emotional regulation. The second theme describes the importance of empathy and meaningful relationships as types of non-cognitive skills., Conclusions: The findings of this study provide the basis for the development of noncognitive assessment tools by educators. In addition, they pave the foundation for the curation of future programs that promote the noncognitive skills of nursing students. Hospital-based educators may use these findings to curate suitable programs for improving the noncognitive abilities of nurses., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)