Work-life balance and online student engagement among registered nurses enrolled in online graduate nursing education: a mixed methods study

Background: There is a growing number of online nursing graduate degree programs to address the professional development needs of working nurses. Work-related antecedents of online student engagement in graduate nursing studies are under-explored in the literature.

Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the relationship among demographic and work characteristics, work-life balance (WLB), and online student engagement (OSE) among registered nurses enrolled in online graduate studies.

Methods: This study design is convergent-parallel mixed methods, utilizing a survey approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The target population is students of an online Master of Arts in Nursing program at a university in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. Respondents were recruited via email. Google Forms were used for data collection. Non-parametric, inferential statistical tests were used to examine relationships among variables. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used to draw insights from open-ended responses.

Results: A total of 173 graduate students responded to the survey. Quantitative results indicate high levels of WLB (Mdn = 4.8, IQR = 1.5) and OSE (Mdn = 3.7-4.0, IQR = 0.5-1.0). WLB was significantly lower among females (U = 3297.5, p < 0.01). Emotion OSE was significantly higher for respondents with managerial positions (U = 2987.5, p < 0.05). WLB had significant low to moderate positive correlations with the domains of OSE (r = 0.22 to 0.32, p < 0.01). Qualitative findings reveal various appraisals of online learning and factors influencing work-life-study balance, such as work, personal life, and school.

Conclusion: Work-life balance facilitates better online student engagement among graduate nursing students and is influenced by time management, work (i.e. job environment and stressors), personal (i.e. home life and leisure activities), and university factors (i.e. curriculum, modality, and professors).

Impact statement: Empirical evidence on the link between WLB and OSE can inform graduate nursing academics in developing initiatives to ensure the timely completion of the degree program.