Academic performance appears to be a problem, not only at nursing colleges, but at
all academic institutions. An overloaded curriculum, a heavy workload, crowded
classes, lack of equipment and scarce resources, amongst others, seem to be the
problem.
The study was conducted to determine the factors that influence studentsâ academic
performance at a nursing college. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and
contextual design was used. Two samples, namely tutors and student nurses in the
first year of their four-year diploma programme, were obtained. Both groups were
English-speaking and available at the time of the study.
Two questions were posed to the target groups. Firstly: âWhat are the factors that
influence academic performance at the college?â Secondly: âWhat can be done to
improve the academic performance of the students at the college?â Informed consent
was obtained after the purpose of the study had been explained to the participants.
Consent to conduct the study was also obtained from the Head of the Department of
the Free State Department of Health.
The eight steps identified by Tesch (1990), as cited in Botma, Greeff, Mulaudzi and
Wright (2010: 224), was used during the process of data analysis. The researcher
then did a literature review to support the outcome.
During focus-group interviews, tutors indicated that the type of students selected for
training was not committed enough to become competent professional nurses. Some
of the tutors were concerned that students only applied to the nursing college to
receive bursaries. The bursaries were then misappropriatedfor personal use, instead
of being used for their studies. According to tutors, students only applied for training
because they had not been admitted at other institutions which offeredthe courses of
their choice. Tutors also complained that, due to administrative responsibilities, they
lacked the time to accompany students in the clinical areas. The students identified several factors. They mentioned, for example, that the
transition from high school to college and the resultant workloadhad a negative
impact on their studies. More freedom at the college and the fact that they no longer
studied under the strict supervision of their parents, were also mentioned as factors.
Furthermore, it seemed that the study methods that were successful at high school
did not have the same effect at college. Students also complained about the
appalling living conditions at the nursesâ home. Poor hygienic conditions and
unbearable noise levels, the lack of security, and a feeling of not being safe were
mentioned. The lack of confidentiality when they consulted the student counsellor
also added to studentsâ dissatisfaction. A concern was that confidential information
would later be disclosed to other students and tutors.
Finally, the researcherâs recommendations were to address the most important
factors, such as the management of bursaries and accommodation of students and
to ensure that a strategic plan would be developed to improve academic
performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-07302013-132316 |
| Date | 30 July 2013 |
| Creators | Jafta, Motlatsi George |
| Contributors | Prof A Joubert |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-07302013-132316/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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