Purpose: This study aimed to examine the relationships of professional self-concept, communication skill, and the nursing work environment with clinical performance in new graduate nurses, based on Social Cognitive Theory. Methods: A total of 163 new ...
Purpose: This study aimed to examine the relationships of professional self-concept, communication skill, and the nursing work environment with clinical performance in new graduate nurses, based on Social Cognitive Theory. Methods: A total of 163 new graduate nurses in general or tertiary hospitals in South Korea participated. Data were collected from August 20 to September 5, 2025, through an online nursing platform using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression. Results: Clinical performance significantly differed by age, clinical career, experience in communication/interpersonal education, satisfaction with job, current department, and preceptor training. It was positively correlated with professional self-concept (r=.60, p<.001), communication skill (r=.73, p<.001), and the nursing work environment (r=.59, p<.001). Clinical performance was significantly predicted by communication skill (β=.55, p<.001) and clinical career of 4–6 months (β=.27, p=.009), 7–9 months (β=.34, p=.001), and 10–12 months (β=.36, p<.001), and the model explained 60% of the variance. Conclusion: These findings underscore the essential role of communication skill in improving new graduate nurses’ clinical performance.