The Relationship Between Lifelong Learning Attitudes and 21st Century Skills of Nursing Students

Objectives: Scientific, technological, and economic developments require nurses to graduate as lifelong learners, and nurses with 21st century skills. The purpose of the research is to determine nursing students\\\' lifelong learning attitudes and 21st century skills and the relationship between them. Materials and Methods: This research is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational design, and was carried out with 338 students. The data for the research were collected using \\\"Information Form\\\", \\\" Lifelong Learning Attitude Scale for Healthcare Students in Higher Education \\\" and \\\"Multidimensional 21st Century Skills Scale\\\". Results: The critical thinking and problem solving skills of the students included in the research have a high mean score (25,11±4,91) however, their mean scores of career awareness (8,86±3,37) are low. The significant difference was found between the conditions such as high school graduation, post-graduation career plan, and participation in vocational courses of nursing students, and their lifelong learning attitudes and 21st century skills (p<0,05). The strong positive relationship was found between the lifelong learning attitude of the nursing students within the scope of the research, and their levels of critical thinking and problem solving skills, which are the sub-dimensions of 21st century skills. The weak negative relationship was found between students\\\' lifelong learning attitude and 21st century skills sub-dimensions of career awareness, and information and technology literacy. Conclusion: The results of the research showed that nursing students\\\' critical thinking and problem solving skills were high and as their lifelong learning attitudes increased, their critical thinking and problem solving skills also increased positively.