Effective Factors on Theoretical Class Attendance according to Nursing and Midwifery Students’ Point of View, Kerman Razi School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background & Objective: Classrooms are suitable places for transferring teachers’ experiences to the students and a better understanding of educational contents. The students’ absence from theoretical classes has been one of the increasing and most important educational problems in medical universities in recent years. This study was performed to determine the effective factors on theoretical class attendance according to nursing and midwifery students’ point of view in Kerman Razi School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 2003. Methods: In this descriptive – analytic study, 320 nursing and midwifery students were asked to fill in the researcher-made questionnaires using a census method. Totally 217 questionnaires were filled. Results : Among all 217 students, 87.9% were female and 75.7% were single. Students’ mean age (± SD) was 22.4(±4) years. Native students were 56.7% and only 14.6% were employed. Among the effective factors on theoretical class attendance, the highest mean scores belong to “teachers’ scientific dominance and orientation” (4.7), “students’ interest in the related topic” (4.67), “proper teaching method” (4.66), “importance of class attendance for better comprehension of the lesson” (4.58) and the lowest mean scores belong to “classrooms physical environment” (3.85) , “not attending the class as a duty”, (3.88), using audiovisual aids (3.95). Conclusion : The findings showed that attending classes is affected by factors related to both teachers and studentsBut the teachers’ scientific dominance and orientation, teaching methodology and students’ involvement during class discussions are the main factors which determine students’ attendance in the classes. Keywords: Attendance, Theoretical lessons, Nursing students, Midwifery students, Effective factors