A REVIEW OF FACTORS INFLUENCING NURSING STUDENTS’ EMPOWERMENT: FROM INDIVIDUAL TO ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS
TL;DR
The literature review demonstrated that nursing students’ empowerment is primarily influenced by individual psychological factors, including self-efficacy, self-confidence, professional competence, learning motivation, and the development of professional identity.
Abstract
The transition of nursing students into the profession involves not only the acqu sition of clinical knowledge and practical skills but also the development of psychological empowerment and professional identity. Empowerment in academic and clinical settings is a multidimensional concept encompassing both psychological and structural dimensions that promote students’ active engagement in learning and prepare them for independent professional practice. Aim. To review the scientific literature and summarize the individual (psychological) and organizational (structural) factors associated with nursing students' empowerment. Material and methods. A narrative literature review was conducted. Publications examining factors associated with nursing students’ empowerment were identified through searches of the PubMed, eLABa, and ResearchGate databases. Studies published between 2020 and 2025 were included. A total of 503 publications were identified, of which five met the predefined selection criteria and were included in the final analysis. Results. The literature review demonstrated that nursing students’ empowerment is primarily influenced by individual psychological factors, including self-efficacy, self-confidence, professional competence, learning motivation, and the development of professional identity. Organizational factors, such as the organization of nursing education and clinical placements, mentorship, simulation-based learning, and access to learning resources, provide a supportive environment for the development of empowerment. Interpersonal and pedagogical interactions were found to either strengthen or weaken students’ experiences of empowerment. Higher levels of empowerment were consistently associated with a lower intention to leave the nursing profession. Conclusions. Nursing students’ empowerment is primarily fostered through the development of psychological resources, while supportive organizational conditions and effective pedagogical interactions provide the foundation for this process. Strengthening empowerment throughout nursing education and clinical practice may reduce professional uncertainty and the intention to leave the nursing profession, thereby supporting nurse recruitment and retention within healthcare systems.