There is a growing interest in promoting nursing research in Spain, especially with the European Convergence of educational programmes and qualifications. The aim of this study was to contribute to the development of nursing research among clinical nurses in a Spanish hospital. To do so, it explored the nursing research culture in a hospital and, designed and implemented an intervention to increase nursing research by developing research capability and modifying inhibiting factors in the context. This project followed a realistic evaluation approach. It was divided into three phases: baseline, development and evaluation. The baseline phase, conducted with clinical nurses and ward managers in a University Hospital, aimed at gaining an understanding of the nursing research culture in a hospital. This information was used for the development phase, which comprised the design and implementation of an intervention. The intervention, implemented over one year, consisted of the establishment of a mentors' network in the hospital, and an educational program with seminars, research methods courses and journal clubs. The evaluation phase was conducted to study the intervention outcomes looking at the contexts and the intervention mechanisms, through ward managers', clinical nurses' and mentors' views. Several methods of data collection, quantitative and qualitative, were used along the different phases of the study: self completion questionnaires, objective tests, scales and focus groups. The results indicated that the nursing research culture of the hospital developed moderately after the intervention as shown by an increase in participants' research capability (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and a decrease in some of the inhibiting factors identified in the baseline phase. The knowledge provided by this study helped to understand how a carefully designed intervention, based on an understanding of the context, could contribute to nursing research development. This intervention, and the understanding of why and how it worked, could be used as a model in other hospitals.

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Critical thinking ability is imperative for nurse practitioners in the multidimensional unfolding health care arena. Consensus as to what critical thinking entails has yet to be articulated. This non-empirical study thus set out to clarify the concept "critical thinking. Walker and Avant's (1995) proposal for conducting a concept analysis was used within the qualitative research paradigm. Literature selected from the fields of education, philosophy, nursing and psychology was consulted as the main source of data. Thematic and theoretical sampling of literature were also embarked upon during the later stage of the research to add density to emergent categories and themes. Categories were organised according to the Strauss and Corbin (1995) paradigmatic model; indicating the antecedents, disposition of the thinker, attributes and critical attributes, and outcomes of critical thinking. The findings indicate that critical thinking is a complex, multidimensional, dynamic, existential and context dependent mental operation. The essence of critical thinking is further illuminated by the construction of a model case and additional cases. The concept critical thinking is finally succinctly defined. The implications that critical thinking holds for nursing education and practice are spelled out. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Thesis (M.Cur.) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / The implementation of a Performance Management System (PMS) and its impact on the professional nurses have never been evaluated and, therefore, the experiences of professional nurses are not known. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of professional nurses with regard to performance assessment at the Polokwane Mankweng Hospital Complex. Upon obtaining the clearance to conduct the study from the Medunsa Reseach and Ethics Committee, permission to conduct the study was granted by the Department of Health. A qualitative research approach was used by applying the principles of a phenomenological, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design. Data were collected from fourteen (14) professional nurses by using unstructured face-to-face interviews. Data were audio recorded and field notes were also written. Trustworthiness was ensured by applying the Lincoln and Guba’s criteria. Transferability was ensured by utilizing purposive sampling to include participats. Confirmability was ensured by by collecting data from thr participants who have experience on the problem studied. Data were analysed qualitatively by using Tech’s open coding method. The results indicated that there was conflict between the nurse managers and professional nurses that was arising from dissatisfaction with the assessment rating and scores allocated. Professional nurses complained about unfair ratings, stating that scores were based on personality and not performance. Those professional nurses who were obtaining high scores were perceived as the nurse managers’ favourites. Professional nurses called for a change in or review of the method of performance assessment. The results indicated that nurse managers were lacking knowledge about performance assessment and, therefore, feedback about performance were not given. It is recommended that on-going training of the nurse managers and a change in the method of assessment will remedy the situation.

Critical thinking ability is imperative for nurse practitioners in the multidimensional unfolding health care arena. Consensus as to what critical thinking entails has yet to be articulated. This non-empirical study thus set out to clarify the concept "critical thinking. Walker and Avant's (1995) proposal for conducting a concept analysis was used within the qualitative research paradigm. Literature selected from the fields of education, philosophy, nursing and psychology was consulted as the main source of data. Thematic and theoretical sampling of literature were also embarked upon during the later stage of the research to add density to emergent categories and themes. Categories were organised according to the Strauss and Corbin (1995) paradigmatic model; indicating the antecedents, disposition of the thinker, attributes and critical attributes, and outcomes of critical thinking. The findings indicate that critical thinking is a complex, multidimensional, dynamic, existential and context dependent mental operation. The essence of critical thinking is further illuminated by the construction of a model case and additional cases. The concept critical thinking is finally succinctly defined. The implications that critical thinking holds for nursing education and practice are spelled out. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Thesis(M.A.(Nursing)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Background: Many deaths in hospitals occur within 24 hours of admission. Some of these deaths could be prevented if the patients were effectively triaged, identified quickly and treatment initiated without delay. Triage and emergency care have always been weak and under-emphasized components of healthcare systems in Africa and yet, if well organized, could lead to saving many lives and reducing the ultimate costs of care. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop strategies to enhance knowledge of triage amongst nurses working in the Emergency Departments of the Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Study method: By employing a quantitative, non-experimental research method, 84 nurses working in the Emergency Departments, completed and submitted structured questionnaires. Validity and reliability were insured by pre-testing the data collection instrument on respondents who were not part of the main study. Data were analyzed by using the SPSS and Excel computer programmes with the assistance of the University statistician. Results: Findings indicated that there is an association between triage knowledge and Job title (p-value = 0.046). Registered nurses, specialty nurses and enrolled nurses were found to have more knowledge than auxiliary nurses. However, from those nurses with the knowledge, the study discovered that most of the respondents (61%) exercised poor triage practice compared with those nurses (30%) exercising good practice. Conclusion: The results of this study show that having triage knowledge does not automatically equate with good triage practice. Therefore, it is recommended to integrate knowledge with experience and continued professional development to yield good triage practice.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe registered nurse's perceptions with regard to continuing formal education. A quantitative descriptive, explorative research design was used to study registered nurses views with regard to continuing formal education and to identify the barriers to continuing formal education as experienced by registered nurses. Convenience sampling was used to select the research sample of registered nurses working at four state health institutions in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Descriptive statistics, based on calculations using the Microsoft (MS) Excel (for Windows 2000) programme, were used to summarise and describe the research results obtained from the questions completed by the registered nurses. The research results indicated that most registered nurses perceive continuing formal education as beneficial to their personal and professional growth and to improve the quality of patient/client care, but barriers exist which prevent or deter them from undertaking continuing formal education programmes. The main barriers were identified as structural barriers, including lack of funding, job and family responsibilities and lack of coherent staff development planning. / Health Studies / M. A. (Health Studies)

Qualified nurses cannot perform tasks and procedures with confidence due to ineffective mentoring by a clinical nurse during training. Effective mentoring by the clinical nurse, with an additional accredited qualification in his/her field should assist in the development and confidence of the student nurse. The purpose of this study was to explore the learner’s experience of mentoring and facilitation by the clinical nurse, challenges and their view of the clinical nurse, and if this could be a predictive factor to their level of an independent nurse practitioner at the end of training. A non-experimental, descriptive qualitative design was used to identify the experience of the students and newly qualified nurses regarding the amount and quality of facilitation given by the clinical nurse in practice. The research population consisted of all categories of student nurses currently in training as well as qualified nurses within the past year from different facilities. An online semi-structured questionnaire survey was distributed among 45 participants and feedback received by 32 anonymous participants in the public and private sector. The findings of the study indicated that not all newly qualified nurses are able to practice as independent nurses, there’s a lack in mentoring and facilitation by clinical nurses during training and that a clinical nurse should have an additional qualification to better the learner experience. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing science)