Abstract
The Relationship Between Nursing Students' Automatic Thoughts and Their Assertiveness Levels
Automatic thoughts are regardless of the invidual and an involuntary process that
passes quickly and instantaneously in own mind. Assertiveness is an important skill for
the nursing profession that facilitates effective interpersonal communication. The aim of
this study was to examine the characteristics of nursing students' automatic thoughts, their
assertiveness levels, and the relationship between nursing students' automatic thoughts
and their assertiveness levels. In this descriptive study, 302 nurses were included in the
study without selecting the sample. Descriptive characteristics questionnaire, Rathus
Assertiveness Inventory and Automatic Thoughts Scale were used to collect data. The
data were presented with descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskal Wallis H
Test, Spearman Correlation test were used in the analysis and p <0.05 was considered
statistically significant. 49% of the student nurses participating in the study are 20-21
years old, 64.2% are female and 81.5% live in a rural environment. Student nurses'
automatic thought total score average was 52.70 ± 19.78, and assertiveness total score
average was -14.97 ± 11.92. It was found that automatic thoughts are more negative in
students aged 24 and over, and students who were female, lived in the city, and had no
psychiatric diagnosis were more assertive. A negative significant relationship was found
between negative automatic thoughts and assertiveness. It is noteworthy that nursing
students are generally 'shy' and there is no difference in terms of assertiveness according
to their classes. In the light of this information, it is recommended to plan trainings to
change negative automatic thoughts and to improve assertiveness levels.
Keywords
Assertiveness, Negative Automatic Thought, Automatic Thought, Nursing Student, Nurse.
