COMPARISON OF THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM FOR NURSING EDUCATION OF TWO DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES IN THE EAST AND WEST OF TURKIYE

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine and compare the hidden curriculum of two institutions that provide undergraduate nursing education in two different regions of Türkiye. The descriptive and cross-sectional research was conducted with 319 nursing students. Data were collected with the Introductory Information Form and Hidden Curriculum Evaluation Scale in Nursing Education (HCES-N). While the mean score of the HCES-N total score of the nursing students attending the university in the West of Türkiye was 163.31 ± 21.69. The HCES-N total mean score of the nursing students attending in the East of Türkiye was calculated as 145.50 ± 25.81. While the HCES-N total score, school atmosphere, and professional achievement scores of the nursing students attending the university in the West of Türkiye were statistically higher than the nursing students attending the university in the east, the student-teacher-school interaction score was statistically lower. It was determined that the perceptions of the students participating in the study towards the hidden curriculum were moderate, while the perceptions of the students studying in the West of Türkiye were better. In line with these results, it is important to improve the physical conditions of schools in improving the hidden curriculum.