The mediating effects of self-directed learning and nursing professional values on the relationship between digital literacy and narrative competence among nursing students: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to explore the degree of narrative competence and determine how it was predicted by digital literacy, self-directed learning and nursing professional values among nursing students in China using a structural equation modeling (SEM)-based approach. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,025 nursing students identified through convenience cluster sampling. Data were collected on December 2024 via the Wenjuanxing online questionnaire platform. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SEM. The mean narrative competence score of the nursing students was 146.71 ± 17.94. Digital literacy (β = 0.20, P < 0.001), self-directed learning (β = 0.43, P < 0.001), and nursing professional values (β = 0.27, P < 0.001) were positive predictors of narrative competence. Among these variables, self-directed learning had the most significant influence on the degree of narrative competence, and nursing professional values mediated the relationship between digital literacy and narrative competence. Nursing students’ digital literacy both directly and indirectly (via self-directed learning and nursing professional values) influences their narrative competence. Improving nursing students’ digital literacy and self-directed learning skills can improve humanistic care, nursing quality and nurse‒patient relationships.