Within the nursing profession, the transition from the student to a graduate nurse is a common rite of passage that marks the end of initial educational preparation in the discipline and the beginning of a professional journey as a nurse and a member of the multidisciplinary team (Nash, Lemcke & Sacre. 2009:48). This is a period of adjustment, stress, growth and development and the transitional nurse is likely to feel uncomfortable, fearful and may experience feelings of inadequacy. This study was undertaken to explore and describe the experiences of final year nursing students at a public college of nursing in the Eastern Cape regarding their preparedness to become registered nurses, with the aim to identify gaps and make recommendations on strategies to close the gaps. The objectives were to explore and describe the experiences of final year nursing students at the public college of nursing in the Eastern Cape Province with regard to their preparedness to become registered nurses and to recommend strategies to improve the preparation of nursing students for transition to become registered nurses. To answer the research question “What are the experiences of final year nursing students at a public college of nursing in the Eastern Cape Province with regard their preparedness to become registered nurses”, a qualitative, explorative and descriptive design was used as a framework for the study. Data were collected by means of unstructured focus group interviews with a purposively selected sample of 27 final year nursing students at the particular college of nursing. Data were analysed using Tesch’s method of analysis for qualitative research. Two themes emerged, revealing that participants at the college experienced preparedness and lack of preparedness to assume the role of a professional nurse. This related to certain aspects that had an impact on the preparation of the final year nursing students for practice and included: curriculum-related aspects; clinical teaching and learning support; learning opportunities; interpersonal relationships between lecturers, students and clinical staff; equipment; and library resources. It was concluded that the learning needs of the nursing students were not adequately catered for, leading to lack of preparedness. Through the involvement of nursing students in the evaluation of their learning, shortfalls in both education and practice areas could therefore be detected. Recommendations regarding strategies to be used to promote preparedness of final year nursing students included: continuous feedback on student performance in the form of exit evaluations on the part of students to identify learning needs; writing of progress reports on the part of clinical practice; and the employment of clinical preceptors with clear role specifications between the lecturers, ward sisters and preceptors to avoid role confusion.

Mental health is an ever-growing crisis among adolescents and young adults, with suicide as second leading cause of death and the number of those negatively affected continually on the rise. Transitions are one of the major stressors prevalent among these age groups, placing individuals at risk for mental health deficits. This quantitative voluntary response comparative study assesses the transitional mental health of pre-nursing students and students in the nursing program at East Tennessee State University. Emailed to all with a declared major of pre-nursing or nursing, this study measured mental health using evidenced based assessment tools. The PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety, along with additional demographic information and mental health service usage questions, was sent to and completed by participants. A total of n = 173 responses were received. Of these responses n = 99 or 57.2 percent were nursing students, a participation rate of 9.6 percent, and n = 74 or 42.8 percent were pre-nursing students. The research revealed that depression and anxiety scores were above the cutoff for moderate depression and anxiety in both groups, as well as identified a deficit in availability of mental health resources, with over 10 percent of students unable to access counseling or psychiatric services. Contraindicatory to literature, which predicted improving mental health in the progression through university studies, this study reveals a variable and even worsening trajectory of mental health as students transition into the nursing program and progressed through college.

Plusieurs écrits scientifiques ont mentionné que les pratiques humanistes-caring en formation infirmière sont avantageuses pour les personnes étudiantes. En effet, les pratiques humanistes-caring professorales créent les conditions qui favorisent les apprentissages. Des études ont rapporté la perspective de la clientèle étudiante témoignant des bienfaits des pratiques humanistes-caring de professeurs. Elles constituent une piste de solution pouvant réduire la déshumanisation dans les milieux académiques d’enseignement et d’apprentissages des soins infirmiers. Mais à la connaissance de l’étudiant-chercheur, aucune étude issue de la discipline infirmière ne s’est intéressée à la compréhension de la signification des pratiques humanistes-caring de professeurs, de même qu’aux contributions de celles-ci à l’égard de la personne étudiante. Inspirée par l’humanisme et le caring comme philosophie, le Modèle humaniste des soins infirmiers-Université de Montréal (Cara et al., 2016) a été retenu comme perspective disciplinaire de la présente étude. Cette dernière avait pour but d’explorer et comprendre, auprès de professeurs, la signification de leurs pratiques humanistes-caring, de même que leurs perceptions quant aux contributions de celles-ci au développement des apprentissages de la personne étudiante en formation infirmière. Pour ce faire, huit entrevues ont été réalisées auprès de professeurs dans une université québécoise. Les données recueillies ont été analysées à l’aide de la méthode phénoménologique de Giorgi (1997). Le processus d’analyse a permis l’émergence de sept thèmes. Parmi ces thèmes, quatre se rapportent à la signification des pratiques humanistes-caring de professeurs (première question de recherche), à savoir : 1) valeurs humanistes-caring comme fondement du rôle professoral, 2) attitudes humanistes-caring de professeurs envers la personne étudiante, 3) comportements humanistes-caring de professeurs envers la personne étudiante et, 4) conditions contextuelles des pratiques humanistes-caring des professeurs. Finalement, les trois derniers thèmes documentent la contribution des pratiques humanistes-caring à l’égard de la personne étudiante (deuxième question de recherche), à savoir : 1) épanouissement de la personne étudiante, 2) succès académique de la personne étudiante, 3) sentiment d’accomplissement professoral. L’ensemble des sept thèmes a favorisé l’émergence de la structure essentielle du phénomène investigué qui s’intitule « influencées par des conditions contextuelles, les pratiques professorales empreintes de valeurs, d’attitudes et de comportements humanistes-caring favorisent l’épanouissement et le succès académique de la personne étudiante, de même que l’accomplissement professoral ». La présente étude s’est révélée innovante puisque les résultats constituent de précieuses données pour les connaissances en sciences infirmières. Ces résultats peuvent être utilisés pour créer ou maintenir un environnement favorable aux enseignements et aux apprentissages dans les milieux de formation infirmière. De même, les milieux cliniques de soins peuvent les utiliser en vue d’améliorer la qualité du suivi auprès des personnes étudiantes en stage. Enfin, ces résultats peuvent susciter l’intérêt de réaliser d’autres recherches subséquentes et ce, dans d’autres milieux académiques en formation infirmière. Mots-clés : Pratiques humanistes-caring, Modèle Humaniste-Caring, formation infirmière, professeur, étudiant infirmier, méthode phénoménologique, valeurs humanistes-caring, attitudes humanistes-caring, comportements humanistes-caring. / A number of scientific studies have shown that humanistic-caring practices in nursing education are beneficial for students. In fact, humanistic-caring professorial practices create conditions that promote learning. Studies have reported on the benefits of professors’ humanistic-caring practices from the perspective of students. They constitute a possible solution that can reduce dehumanization in academic nursing teaching and learning environments. However, to the best of the student-researcher's knowledge, no study within the nursing discipline has focused on understanding the professors’ meaning of their humanistic-caring practices, as well as their contributions for students. Inspired by humanistic and caring philosophies, the Humanistic Model of Nursing Care-Université de Montréal (Cara et al., 2016) was chosen as the disciplinary perspective for this study. The purpose of this research was to explore and understand professors’ meaning of their humanistic-caring practices, as well as their perceptions of the contributions of these practices to the development of nursing students’ learning. To this end, eight interviews were conducted with professors working in a Quebec university. The data collected were analyzed using Giorgi’s (1997) phenomenological method. The analysis process revealed seven themes. Four of these themes relate to the meaning of professors’ humanistic-caring practices (first research question), namely: 1) humanistic-caring values as the foundation of the professorial role, 2) professors’ humanistic-caring attitudes towards the student, 3) professors’ humanistic-caring behaviours towards the student and, 4) contextual conditions of professors’ humanistic-caring practices. The other three themes correspond to the contribution of humanistic-caring practices towards the student (second research question), explicitly: 1) student self-fulfillment, 2) student academic success and, finally, 3) sense of professorial accomplishment. Together, the seven themes led to the emergence of the essential structure of the investigated phenomenon: "Influenced by contextual conditions, professorial practices imbued with humanistic-caring values, attitudes and behaviours foster students’ self-fulfillment and academic success, as well as professorial accomplishment". The present study proved to be innovative since its results constitute valuable data for nursing knowledge. These results can be used to create or maintain an environment conducive to teaching and learning in nursing training environments. Clinical care settings can use them to improve the quality of the follow-up offered to students during their internship. Finally, these results may spark the interest in carrying out subsequent research, elsewhere in other academic settings in nursing education. Keywords: Humanistic-caring practices, Humanist-Caring Model, nursing education, professor, nursing student, phenomenological method, humanistic-caring values, humanistic-caring attitudes, humanistic-caring behaviors.