Socio-Demographic Predictors of Clinical-Skill Performance among Nursing Students in North-West Nigeria: A Quasi-experimental Study

To determine whether sex, age category, ethnic group, type of secondary school attended and marital status were associated with clinical-skill performance among nursing students in North-West Nigeria. A controlled quantitative quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study conducted in two public schools of nursing, with the Zamfara State School of Nursing as the intervention group and the Sokoto State School of Nursing as the control group. A total of 128 second-year nursing students were selected by systematic sampling, with 64 students in each school. The intervention group received six weeks of structured clinical coaching incorporating demonstration, supervised practice, feedback, goal setting, learning strategies and stress-management support, while the control group continued conventional clinical teaching. Clinical-skill performance was assessed using four Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria procedure-performance checklists and expressed as a percentage score. Multiple linear regression evaluated socio-demographic predictors of post-coaching performance among the 64 intervention-group students. Overall pretest scores were 43.9±6.5 in the intervention group and 45.0±4.8 in the control group (p=0.311). At posttest, the intervention group scored 78.4±6.7 compared with 59.3±7.5 in the control group (t=15.071, p<0.001). The regression model was significant, F(5,58)=7.073, p<0.001, and explained 37.9% of variance in post-coaching clinical-skill performance (R²=0.379). Age category was the only statistically significant individual predictor (B=3.890, SE=0.855, t=4.552, p<0.001); sex, ethnic group, secondary-school type and marital status were not significant at the 5% level. Age category was associated with post-coaching clinical-skill performance, but this association should not be interpreted as an inherent age-based difference in ability. Nursing education should continue to emphasise modifiable educational and clinical-learning conditions.