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Nursing schools today are bound by accreditation agencies to produce graduate nurses who can think critically. Clinical instructors play the dominant role in transitioning students from the didactic experience to the clinical experience. The clinical experience is where students practice higher levels of thinking under the supervision and guidance of a clinical instructor in order to arrive at safe patient care decisions. Regardless of the teaching method used to develop critical thinking skills, it is the underlying questioning skill of the instructor that facilitates the growth of critical thinking (Giddings, Dyson, Entwistle, Macdiarmid, Marshall, & Simpson, 2000; Hermiz, 2001, p. 183; Myrick & Yonge, 2002).The purpose of the descriptive study was fourfold: (a) to examine the cognitive characteristics of questions asked by clinical nurse faculty of baccalaureate nursing students, (b) to examine faculty perceptions of the questions being asked in the clinical setting, (c) to examine the questions asked under the categories posed by Myrick and Yonge (2002) of theoretical knowledge, clinical decision-making and action in an effort to determine if systematic questioning is occurring that moves students from theoretical knowledge through to nursing action, and (d) to compare faculty perceptions of the questions asked. Questions were examined for level and type as defined by Craig and Paige (1981); and context in which the question was posed utilizing the guidelines posed by Myrick and Yonge (2002) as theoretical knowledge, clinical decision-making and action. The academic and professional characteristics of clinical faculty were captured utilizing a demographic survey.Findings mirror that of previous research. Clinical faculty continue to ask low cognitive level questions of baccalaureate nursing students. Approximately 71.8% of the questions represented the categories of knowledge, comprehension and application. In addition, over 21% of the questions posed fell into the category of "other" representing questions that were primarily yes/no, and information seeking type questions When looking at sequencing of questions, again, primarily the questions fell into the theoretical knowledge category, and did not move the student through to the evaluation of nursing care. / Department of Educational Studies

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There is a great deal of literature and a number of research studies that have been carried out on reflective practice, models and frameworks of reflection and teaching strategies that successfully promote reflective thinking. This study addresses the need to adopt teaching - learning approaches in nursing education that develop a link between theory and practice in a meaningful way. Reflective thinking is one such approach which is gaining popularity. Reflection is claimed as a goal in many teacher education programmes but the application of reflective teaching strategies has been problematic. This study was aimed at exploring how nurse educators of the Nursing Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal promoted reflective thinking in their teaching. Three of the four Nursing Colleges chosen for data collection were from the greater Durban Metropolitan area because of the accessibility of the participants. There were seventy-two participants in the study. A quantitative design was used, followed by statistical analysis of the data. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire which included structured and semi-structured questions. What emerged in this study is the need for Nurse Educators to take cogniscance of determining appropriate teaching strategies that would develop reflective thinking skills amongst learners. However, the findings indicate that most Nurse Educators do utilize teaching strategies that promote reflective thinking, but a large percentage still use the lecture method as the primary teaching strategy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

D.Cur. (Professional Nursing Science ) / Curriculum evaluation of Community Nursing at the Ann Latsky. Bona Lesedi and Coronation Nursing Colleges was done on the basis of Stake's curriculum evaluation model which was used as point of departure and altered to comply with the specific requirements of the curriculum evaluation of Community Nursing. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify inadequacies in the curriculi and to initiate improvements. Firstly, the intentions of the Nursing Colleges with regard to the Community Nursing curriculum were described. Secondly, certain observations were made' by way of. among other things. questionnaires to enable the researcher to make further delineations. In the third instance. standards were described which is important in evaluating curriculi. The curricular were evaluated on the basis of the details gathered. Lastly. guidelines were laid down to serve as a source for improving curriculi. Observations made included the following: - Students are uncertain of their readiness for community nursing immediately after training. - Only one of the Community Nursing lecturers at the three Nursing Colleges has sufficient clinical experience in Community Nursing. - Sixty four per cent of the clinical practitioners who took part in the study do not fully agree with the objectives set down for practical work in Community Nursing. - Students are generally satisfied with Community Nursing content. - Some of the guidelines set down by the researcher for the improvement of the Community Nursing curricular are: - Management must come to an agreement with. among others. local authorities to enable lecturers to be appointed in a part-time clinical position to improve their clinical experience...

The aim of nursing practice is to provide evidence-based care that ensures quality outcomes for patients, families, healthcare providers and the health care system. This may only occur with increased exposure to nursing research. Nursing education institutions should therefore ensure that students are prepared to provide evidence-based care by participating in and conducting research. The purpose of the study is to explore and describe the challenges faced by nurse educators in teaching research methodology and supervising undergraduate nursing students at a university in order to make recommendations to support nurse educators in teaching research and supervising research projects. Qualitative, explorative, contextual and descriptive research was conducted to explore and describe the challenges experienced by nurse educators. Data were collected through a focus group discussion. Nine nurse educators participated in the research study. Participants acknowledged that they faced challenges in teaching research methodology and supervising research projects. The challenges described pertained to human resources; research experience, competencies and guidelines; physical resources; and a lack of support from their institution’s management. Based on the challenges, recommendations were made to address the lack of specific competencies, research guidelines, student/educator ratios, physical resources and technology issues / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree in Masters of Technology in Nursing, Durban University of Technology, 2015. / Introduction Critical care nursing is one of the most stressful specialities in the nursing profession that involves caring for patients who are suffering with life threatening illness or injuries. The highly technological environment where critical care nursing is rendered is associated with a great amount of stress, frustration and burnout. The critical care nursing student needs to be prepared, mentored and supported for the role transition from student to professional nurse. Nursing education and training cannot succeed without proper theory and practice integration. Therefore, the critical care nursing environment should be supportive of the improvement of teaching and learning. Peer mentoring is one important strategy to help foster an environment that is supportive of the critical care nursing student, allowing them to grow and succeed as experts within the speciality of critical care nursing. Aim of the study The aim of the study was to explore the influence of peer mentoring on critical care nursing students’ learning outcomes in critical care units in KwaZulu- Natal. Methodology A qualitative exploratory research design was used to conduct the study. Ten nurses were recruited from the critical care units in five private and two public hospitals. Descriptions of their experiences were gained through individual face-to-face interviews. The broad question to the participants was: “What influence does peer mentoring have on the critical nurses’ learning outcomes in the critical care unit?” iii Results The findings of the study revealed that peer mentoring is a vital strategy in helping the critical care nursing students to attain their learning outcomes so that they will be proficient in the critical care unit. Peer mentoring was however, not consistent in all hospitals and the critical care nursing students were not given the necessary support and supervision. There were no structured support systems in place to ensure that peer mentoring was formalized and that all required nursing personnel took on the responsibility to teach and facilitate learning for critical care nursing students. Recommendations Recommendations were made with regards to policy development, service provision, nursing education and research. These include that a formalized mentorship programme should be incorporated into the core competencies of all qualified critical care nurses, and to be reflected in their performance appraisal in order to motivate the registered nurses to fulfil their independent function as teachers. Each unit mentor should familiarize him/herself with the prescribed learning objectives of the critical care nursing student in order to be able to delegate appropriately so that learning outcomes are achieved by the mentee. There should be an allocation of supernumerary time for the critical care nursing student and their mentor to allow time for formal mentoring responsibilities to take place away from the clinical area, to facilitate assessment and feedback, and enhance consolidation. Ongoing evidencebased practice research should be conducted on this topic, to provide more information on how peer mentoring effects the mentee, nursing education and retention of skilled staff.

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to describe the culture of clinical teaching through a symbolic interactionist framework, by identifying the rituals, faculty behaviors, and student behaviors and characteristics valued by faculty instructing in clinical settings, using content analysis, interviews and observation. Five faculty, one from each clinical specialty, were chosen using specific criteria. College of Nursing archives were content analyzed to ascertain written valued student behaviors and characteristics and faculty were interviewed to learn their stated beliefs. Faculty/student clinical interactions were observed to assess if faculty written and verbalized beliefs were enacted, and twelve students were interviewed for verification of transmission of the values. Peer debriefing, member checking and an audit trail ensured trustworthiness of the data. Faculty used eight rituals: Preparation, Tracking, Discourse, Closet, Repast, Selection, Maneuver, and Documentation, and three types of actions: Teaching, Role Modeling, and Caretaking to transmit their values. Teaching was utilized 55 percent of the time and involved questioning, instructing, guiding, correcting and observing. Role Modeling, used 22 percent, embodied promoting independence, helping, intervening, kidding and admitting fallibility. Caretaking was evidenced 23 percent of the instructor's time and included caring, praising, diffusing anger, allowing mistakes and sharing self. Over one hundred student behaviors and characteristics that faculty valued were identified and collapsed into six descriptors, listed in descending order: assertive, therapeutic, compliant, knowledgeable, disciplined, and skillful. Faculty placed emphasis on human, interactive skills versus knowledge and psychomotor skills, and responded to students with very caring behaviors. They utilized compassion as a way of effecting conformity, and their use of caring behaviors for the exercise of their power was evident.

The purpose of the study wass to describe the professional and personal development of nursing students who were placed at the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Abused Women and Children for the service-learning trial run of this Gender-Based Violence module i

Background: 'The literature reveals that a large percentage of teachers ask questions aimed at lower cognitive levels irrespective of the underpinning philosophy. They fail to set challenging questions at higher order levels when setting examination papers. Purpose of the Study: This study is aimed at describing and analysing the examination questions set over a four year academic period, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Nursing, in terms of Bloom's levels of cognitive domains. Research Methodology: A quantitative approach and content analysis was used. A total of 1319 questions were examined, SOUTCed from 39 examination papers, from 2003-2007. These questions were independently reviewed by two coders according to Bloom's taxonomy's template. Research Results: The findings revealed that all six categories of the cognitive domains in Bloom's taxonomy were used across the four levels in the Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programme. Overall about 57 % of the questions were aimed at lower level (knowledge, recall and comprehension) whilst only 43.4% were aimed at higher levels (application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation). In the first year lower order questions averaged at 62% with higher order questions at 51 %. In second year the lower order questions took up 51% of the paper \\~th higher order questions at 49%. During third year there was an equal (50/50) split between higher order and lower order questions. In fourth year there was the highest percentage of lower level questions (66%) was seen, with only 34% of questions being of the higher order. Regarding the increase in the complexity of questions within the programme, a change of 13% was seen between first and second year. Whilst there was an increase of 1% reported between second and third year. However, there was a significant drop (16%) in the complexity ofquestions in the fourth year, with lower order questions clearly dominating. Recommendations: The nursing education curriculum, and staff development progranune, should pay special attention towards developing educators in the setting of questions ensuring appropriate examination criteria are met. Exercises during the capacity building initiatives should cover aspects such as how to plan an assessment for the whole programme ensuring the appropriate increases in complexity as the programme progresses, as well as setting, or critiquing, of examination papers and coming up with recommendations to improve the quality of questions. Special attention should be given to how to align teaching and assessment in such a way that the level ofcomplexity increases as the students' progress through the programme. Lastly, further research should be conducted, using mixed methods, to explore the assessment of learning and in order to address certain questions which could not be answered quantitatively; for example questions regarding the construction of questions, because it impacts the nature of the question Also it should be noted that there was a disjuncture between the scenario and the questions in some cases. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.