The problem with which this study is concerned is the identification of selected factors, prior to a student's admission into the nursing sequence, that may be related to the student's success in completing a baccalaureate nursing education. The purposes of the study were (1) to determine if there is a relationship between the reading ability of baccalaureate nursing students and their grades in their initial nursing course, (2) to determine if there are statistically significant differences in reading abilities among traditional groups and identified nontraditional nursing student subgroups (men, older students, blacks Hispanics, and others) of the population, and (3) to determine if prior educational experience (junior college, senior college, or a previous baccalaureate degree) is related to students' grades in the initial clinical course.

Magister Curationis - MCur / The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is widely accepted as an effective means of assessing clinical competence and nursing skills. However, little is known the stress amongst first year nursing students associated with the first OSCE in all universities. In view of the paucity of literature available on stress associated with the OSCE, this study determined the perception of stress by the first year nursing students' associated with their first OSCE at this university. A quantitative, descriptive survey design is employed. The instrument used is an adapted form of an existing self-administered Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire. This measures perception of stress, factors causing stress and the incidence of stress. Of the total of 213 first year nursing students who were invited to be part of the study, 82 completed the questionnaires. This represents a response rate of 38%. The data was analysed using Statistica 13. Descriptive statistics are used do the calculations. The results are presented in percentages and tables.The findings indicate that more than half (n=54), of the respondents experienced moderate stress levels. For these respondents, the most prevalent factor causing stress was the insufficient time to complete the OSCE. Ninety three percent (93%) (n=74) of the respondents perceived the incidence of stress at a moderate level. There was a statistically significant difference between those who perceived factors causing stress at a low level and those who perceived factors causing stress at a moderate level. Based on the findings of the study on perception of stress during the OSCE, it is recommended that practice session assessments should be conducted throughout the year to help to reduce stress for students during the OSCE. A follow-up qualitative research study should also be conducted in the same setting so the students’ experiences of stress during the first OSCE can be explored in depth. Although the relatively small sample of this study (38%) means the results cannot be generalised, this study does contribute to the literature on the stress experienced during the OSCE.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Background: Health care workers, more specifically, nursing students are at increased risk of occupational injury and exposure to blood borne pathogens. Compliance with universal precautions (UP) will minimise risk or transmission of HIV and HBV (Hepatitis B virus) according to the Department of Health of South Africa. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge and practice of universal precautions amongst nursing students and their fear of occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens. Rationale: The rationale for the study was to investigate what the studentss knowledge and practice of UP were, to see if this could be a possible contributing factor to occupational exposure. Research design: The study was a quantitative, cross sectional survey using a questionnaire that included one open ended question. Participants: The participants for the study were the undergraduate nursing students in year levels two to four (n = 253) who and were selected by means of stratified random sampling. Procedures: A questionnaire was administered to the participants by the researcher. Analysis of the data collected was done through statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 16.0) and content analysis. Results: The researcher established that there is indeed a lack of knowledge regarding UP and that the students’ self reported practice of UP is poor. No statistically significant correlation between knowledge and practice of UP were found. There is underreporting of occupational exposures to staff at the School of Nursing. The majority of students reported a moderate to severe fear for occupational exposures and contributing factors raised by them are reality in the clinical facilities. / South Africa

Magister Curationis - MCur / An estimated 12 billion injections are administered annually worldwide and result in two million needle sticks each year in health workers. Needle-stick injuries occur worldwide on a daily basis. These injuries are traumatic experiences which if not handled correctly may have devastating psychological effects on the student nurse. The researcher proposed to explore the lived experiences of student nurses in the undergraduate programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town, who had sustained needle-stick injuries during their clinical placement to uncover the meaning that these lived experiences had to the student nurses. The researcher, through her clinical supervision of the BCur undergraduate nursing students at the School of Nursing (SoN), University of the Western Cape (UWC) suspected that needle stick injuries sustained by student nurses are being mismanaged in the service settings and that the phenomenon of a needle-stick injury had far reaching emotional and physical effects on the student nurse. In this study a qualitative phenomenological approach was used because the researcher identified it as the most appropriate method to do this study. The population under study was the student nurses studying towards their BCur nursing degree at the SoN at the UWC. A purposive sample consisting of 8 respondents were selected, aged between 19 and 32. The data were collected through unstructured, in-depth interviews lasting for about 1 hour. The responses from this type of data collection provided the researcher with ‘rich’ details of the student nurses experiences of the needle-stick injury. The core principles of Phenomenology focus on the ‘lived’ experiences of an individual and the researcher chose the unstructured, in-depth interview to collect the data in this study because it was the most appropriate method of obtaining the data. Participation in the study was voluntary and informed consent was obtained from the respondents prior to the commencement of the study. An inductive theory was used as a framework to guide the data analysis process because through the process of analysing the data, categories and themes emerge. Findings from the study revealed the following: a needle-stick injury is considered to be a traumatic incident that students react in various ways to the traumatic incident, that several intervening factors precede the incident and lastly that the students need support following the incident. These research findings indicate a need for the provision of a structured preventive and promotive programme relating to needle-stick injuries for the student nurses. Clinical procedures should be revised to ensure the safety of students when they work with sharp instruments. The knowledge about policies and procedures relating to the management of needle-stick injuries should be reinforced to both staff and students. / South Africa

Magister Curationis - MCur / Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are for information storage, retrieval, display and transmission through electronic means in our day-to-day life. The use of technology in education has made both learners and educators to achieve new possibilities because life is made easy for them due to its inherent advantages which range from support of conventional classroom work, design, development of learning materials to accessing virtual libraries. Harnessing these benefits places a great deal of demand on nurse educators to improve the teaching-learning experience of learners. However, the major players, especially the nurse educators in Nigeria, have not been properly investigated to find out if they use technology in teaching, and if they do, what types they use. The study aimed to explore and describe the nurse educators‟ use of Information and Communication Technologies in teaching and learning in nursing schools in Edo State, Nigeria. It focused on the type of Information and Communication Technologies used by nurse educators, how they use them, and the challenges they face, if any, in the use of technologies with a view to suggesting ways of overcoming the identified challenges. An exploratory descriptive quantitative research design with the use of self-administered questionnaires was adopted. The population was all the 36 nurse educators in the three universities that offer the Bachelor in Nursing Science programmes in Edo State. Validity and reliability of the study questions were ensured and a pilot study was done to ensure internal consistency by measurement with the Cronbach‟s alpha consistency measure that yielded 0.85. Descriptive analysis was employed with the aid of frequencies, tables and graphs. Findings of the study indicate that the nurse educators use technology for teaching and learning. They all use the laptop 34(100%); desktop computer iii accounts for 33(97.1%). The respondents use these technologies in conjunction with word processing and spreadsheet for direct classroom teaching, preparation of lectures and students‟ results as well as classroom facilitation. Twenty-five (25) respondents (73.5%) use the mobile technologies such as cell phones and emails to send and receive messages from students. Thirty (30) respondents (88.2%) store information as well as browse the Internet. The use of these applications is quite high, unlike video transmission to receive recorded lectures from out-stations which amounted to 7(20.6%) and video conferencing to dialogue with nursing experts 6(17.6%). The CD ROMS are used for direct classroom teaching, storage of course materials and for rehearsal and revision purposes by less than 50% of the respondents each. The respondents identified erratic power supply, unstable connectivity and inadequate ICT facilities as some of the major challenges they encounter. In conclusion, the study recommends among other things that the various departmental and personal offices of the lecturers be equipped with modern technology facilities. The university management is urged to explore other alternative power supply like solar energy. Furthermore, all the role players are urged to play their part effectively to make ICT for teaching and learning beneficial and effective.

This study examined differences in cultural competency levels between undergraduate and graduate nursing students (age, ethnicity, gender, language at home, education level, program standing, program track, diversity encounters, and previous diversity training). Participants were 83% women, aged 20 to 62; 50% Hispanic/Latino; with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (n = 82) and a Master of Science in Nursing (n = 62). Degrees included high school diplomas, associate/diplomas, bachelors’ degrees in or out of nursing, and medical doctorate degrees from outside the United States. Students spoke English (n = 82) or Spanish (n = 54). The study used a cross-sectional design guided by the three-dimensional cultural competency model. The Cultural Competency Assessment (CCA) tool is composed of two subscales: Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity (CAS) and Culturally Competent Behaviors (CCB). Multiple regressions, Pearson’s correlations, and ANOVAs determined relationships and differences among undergraduate and graduate students. Findings showed significant differences between undergraduate and graduate nursing students in CAS, p <.016. Students of Hispanic/White/European ethnicity scored higher on the CAS, while White/non-Hispanic students scored lower on the CAS, p < .05. One-way ANOVAs revealed cultural competency differences by program standing (grade-point averages), and by program tracks, between Master of Science in Nursing Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners and both Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Registered Nurse-Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Univariate analysis revealed that higher cultural competency was associated with having previous diversity training and participation in diversity training as continuing education. After controlling for all predictors, multiple regression analysis found program level, program standing, and diversity training explained a significant amount of variance in overall cultural competency (p = .027; R2 = .18). Continuing education is crucial in achieving students’ cultural competency. Previous diversity training, graduate education, and higher grade-point average were correlated with higher cultural competency levels. However, increased diversity encounters were not associated with higher cultural competency levels.

Advances in technology have made globalization and internationalization a reality in the world. National borders are becoming more permeable and migration of goods, services, and health care workers takes place more readily. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have become competitors and vendors in the global knowledge economy and are expected to develop job seekers that are responsible and engaged global citizens and employees. Offering study abroad programmes is one of the ways that HEIs achieve this goal. It is estimated that in 2010, 4.7 million people studied abroad (OECD, 2012:360), and it is anticipated that this number will grow to 15 million by the year 2025 (Altbach & Knight, 2006:9). South Africa is emerging as a regional hub for study and research in sub-Saharan Africa (UNESCO: 2012b). Many organizations that train nurses are internationalizing their curriculum which effectively means that Schools of Nursing are seeking placement for students to study, gain insight into other cultures and practices, and to gain clinical experience in other countries. Students, the customers of the Higher Education Institutions, often pay large sums of money to undertake these study abroad programmes and therefore expect good quality learning experiences in return. The aim of this qualitative, contextual, exploratory, and descriptive study was to explore and describe the expectations and experiences of international nursing students and faculty members at a Higher Educational Institution in South Africa in order to develop standards that will enable HEIs to optimize the experiences of short-term study abroad nursing students. An in-depth contextual investigation was conducted on globalization and internationalization, as well as the higher education and health systems of three countries to understand the context of the study abroad programmes. Qualitative data was gathered from students and faculty members using focus groups and individual interviews to establish their expectations and experiences of the programme. Thematic synthesis was carried out on the contextual data and the qualitative data. Thereafter, thematic synthesis analysis was conducted using both sets of results to develop standards that can be used to optimize the experience of short-term study abroad nursing students at a HEI. A total of 35 standards were developed around the following main themes: the objectives of study abroad programmes should be stated clearly before arrival and include the expectations of the global, national, and local communities, the higher education institution and the staff and students; study abroad programmes should be managed in an ethical manner and in an enabling environment, as part of their strategic goals and plans of a HEI; students should be exposed to a variety of experiences and differences between the sending and hosting countries during their study abroad programmes; Standards to Facilitate Optimal Experiences of Short-term Study Abroad Nursing Students at a HEI; study abroad programmes should be evaluated at different intervals and levels to ensure quality of the programmes and to ensure that the objectives/outcomes are met. A limitation of the study was the sampling of the clinical mentors which did not include representatives from the overseas universities. It is recommended that the standards that were developed in this study be introduced and tested in HEIs and that more research be conducted on different levels and groups with regard to study abroad programmes in future.

The transition period from student nurses to professional nurses has been acknowledged as being very stressful, particularly in the military health service due to the dual transition. The phase is marked as final year nursing students try to consolidate the experience and knowledge gained during their four year training period with clinical decision making and problem solving skills being applied in the work environment. The students require support and guidance to effect a successful transition from being a student to being a professional nurse. The transition of students in the military health setting might be experienced differently due to the context that is vastly different from the other health care settings (Moore, 2006:541). The aim of the research was to explore the experiences of role transition of final year nursing students, particularly their preparedness to take up the role of a professional nurse in the military health setting in order to assist managers and educators to support and facilitate this professional adjustment appropriately. A qualitative, descriptive, contextual design was employed for the study and followed a three-phase approach. Phase one comprised a qualitative approach, where semi-structured and focus group interviews were conducted to gather the data. Nurse managers, nurse educators, final year nursing students and novice professional nurses formed part of the population for the study. Creswell’s method of data analysis was employed in analysing the data. The second phase dealt with the integrative review of literature on the transition of final year nursing students into professional nurses. Data extracted from the guidelines formed themes that were triangulated to form phase three of the study. Lastly, a best practice guideline was developed to facilitate the transition period of final year nursing students to professional nurses. Principles of trustworthiness were adhered to, participants were treated in a fair manner and confidential information was not divulged without the consent of the participants. Participants were asked to take part voluntarily and without coercion. Ethical approval was requested to give consent for the study to be undertaken and ethical principles were adhered to throughout the study. Findings were then disseminated after the conclusion of the study.

The use of Information Technology (IT) in healthcare organizations is omnipresent. The nursing curriculum needs to include IT in order to prepare nursing students to acquire Nursing Informatics (NI) competencies before entering the workplace. The literature review suggests that pre-licensure nurses are ill prepared to enter the workforce because they lack some of the essential computer skills that employers are seeking when hiring new graduates (Fetter, 2009a; Gassert, 2008; Ornes & Gassert, 2007). The lack of defined competencies in NI is a worldwide problem (Chang, 2007; Fetter, 2009b; Staggers, Gassert, & Curran, 2001; Ragneskog & Gerdner, 2006). This thesis will examine two questions: 1) Do nursing students increase their NI competency scores progressively in their school program from year 1 to 4? 2) Do nursing students with work experience requiring the use of technology outside of the curriculum get higher scores for NI competencies than those without by the end of 4th year? A questionnaire was given to 176 nursing students asking them to rate their computer use and computer knowledge. The results were consistent for both independent variables of year of study and experience with technology in the work setting. There is no interaction present between variables; they each influence individually the total score for NI competencies for nursing students. The results show NI competencies progressively increasing over the four academic years. The nursing students scored higher still when they had technology experience in any work field on NI competencies. The combination of academic and work experience that uses IT provides nursing students with more opportunities to practice and assimilate their NI competencies before graduation.

An increased number of investigations for academic dishonesty with nursing students was a catalyst for this research. The aim was to explore stakeholder perceptions of academic dishonesty and approaches used to promote academic integrity. Literature reviewed was largely anecdotal, focusing on accounts of incidents and concern over nurses’ fitness to practise, recognising a need to enhance understanding and strategic solutions. A single case study design was utilised, capturing views of expert witnesses, including nursing students, academic staff, practice mentors and administrative and support staff, using individual interviews and nominal groups. Documentary evidence of incidence occurring between 2004 and 2010 were also analysed. An integrated definition of Academic and Practice Misconduct specific to nursing was developed and a range of contributing factors influencing students identified. Incidence within the school was found to have gradually reduced, where collusion and plagiarism was found to be the most common types occurring; highest at academic level five and in essays. Almost half of academic staff had reported an alleged incident. A hierarchy of Academic and Practice Misconduct emerged, indicating a range of severity and degrees of deliberateness. A self-assessment tool has been developed to enable students to measure their level of risk of Academic and Practice Misconduct. Five themes emerged from thematic analysis of data on approaches used to promote academic integrity: devising strategies, policies and procedures; educating stakeholders; implementing holistic preventative processes and deterrents; detecting and managing alleged incidents; and on-going monitoring and enhancement. This was synthesised into a collaborative cycle with four phases for use by stakeholders, listing activities undertaken at course, school and university level and in practice settings. A self-assessment tool has been developed for academic staff to measure their level of involvement in promoting Academic and Practice Integrity. The concepts of risk and person centred approaches are utilised as theoretical frameworks to underpin the research findings. The study is presented as an integration of research, education and practice.