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An investigation of the training experiences of the fourth year student nurses : a case study of the Port Elizabeth nursing campus

Nursing lecturers are faced with the challenge to adapt their teaching styles and attitudes to accommodate the new nursing student that enters the nursing field. These students have expectations and demands which differ highly from past students. Another challenge for lecturers is the demands of a nursing curriculum. The students that commenced with the four year course during 2005 at the Port Elizabeth Nursing Campus experienced negativity with regards to their training. The objectives of the study are to explore and describe the training experiences of the fourth year student nurses of the Port Elizabeth Nursing Campus and to co-construct guidelines to assist nursing lecturers to gauge the understanding of students during their four years of nursing training. The participants used for the study were all fourth year nursing students. They had positive and negative experiences of their training during the four years. The negative experiences related to the demands of the curriculum, lecturers’ poor subject knowledge and insufficient material resources needed for their studies. Regardless of the negativity experienced, students encountered positivity with regards to lecturers’ attitudes. The researcher focused on a qualitative study using an explorative, descriptive, contextual and phenomenological approach. A semi-structured approach was adopted to obtain data. Once consent was obtained from the relevant authorities, four fourth year nursing students were interviewed. The interviews were conducted by an independent role-player within the Department of Health to ensure an unbiased approach. Guba’s model was used to assess trustworthiness and data was analysed. Ethical considerations were ensured throughout the research process. Themes and sub-themes were identified. Based on the research findings, guidelines were co-constructed to assist nursing lecturers to better understand nursing students during their training. The findings of the study will be brought to the attention of nursing lecturers and management personnel of the campus. It was concluded that nursing students need to be consulted on issues concerning their training and development before implementation, and that they be respected and cared for as students based on their human rights.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:8227
Date January 2009
CreatorsSmith, Bridget
PublisherNelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, MPA
Formatxiii, 112 leaves, pdf
RightsNelson Mandela Metropolitan University

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