Publication

Abstract : Objectives : The study was designed to identify the levels of assertiveness and self esteem of undergraduate nursing students and to correlate these two variables. Materials and Method : This descriptive study was conducted after the ethical procedures, among a randomly recruited sample of 120 B. Sc. Nursing students (30 each from 1st to 4th year) of a selected College of Nursing. Data were collected using Personal information schedule, and two standardised self-report tools, the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and Rosenberg Self-esteem scale. Results : The sample mean of assertiveness was 9.29 (SD. 20.89) and that of the self-esteem was 21.07 (SD. 3.36). Only 26.7% of the nursing students were found to be assertive. Eighty five percentage of the sample had average self esteem. No correlation was observed between assertiveness and self-esteem of students. There was statistically significant association between assertiveness and the year of study, medium of instruction before joining nursing, participation in extra curricular activities and percentage of marks obtained in plus two examination. Self esteem was associated with students who rated themselves as introverts. Conclusion : Based on the study findings, the researchers suggest to include assertiveness training mandatory in the undergraduate nursing education programme.