The learning process that best support the development of competence among nursing students in practice
Date
2019
Authors
Munangatire, Takaedza
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The development of competence among student nurses is important to nurse educators, nursing regulatory bodies, employers and patients. Several teaching and learning strategies have been developed to support the development of competence among student nurses but the level of competence at the point of graduation remains below expected standards. This study explored students’ experiences of the learning processes that support the development of competence in nursing practice in Namibia. Gaining an understanding of learning from the student’s perspective can strengthen the current teaching and learning strategies, hence improve the development of competence.
The qualitative phenomenographic study that investigated the learning processes that best support the development of competence was conducted in Namibia at a nursing college. Forty- nine (49) participants (lecturers, clinical instructors, nurses and student nurses) were purposively sampled to take part in the study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The analysis of data was managed through ATLAS. ti 8.1 and followed the process of familiarisation, condensation, comparison, grouping, articulating labelling and contrasting of excerpts in order to generate the outcome space. Ethical principles were applied to ensure that the study complied with ethical requirements set by institutions and international guidelines. Five categories of description emerged and showed that the development of competence involves students increasing their understanding of what competence is, hence changing their learning strategies to meet the level of competence as they understood it. In order of hierarchy from the lowest, the categories of description were; competence is understood as task completion; competence is understood as passing assessments /satisfying facilitators; competence is understood as applying theory to practice; competence is understood as performance of nursing according to clinical standards/guidelines; competence is understood as performance that yields positive health outcomes.
An analysis of the outcome space culminated in a proposed model for the development of competence, which shows that the development of competence among student nurses is influenced directly and indirectly by the students’ understanding of competence. Students with a shallow understanding of competence adopt superficial learning approaches. As students progress in their education and are exposed to real practice settings, their understanding of competence deepens and they shift their learning strategies to deep approaches.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Johannesburg, 2019
Keywords
Citation
Munangatire, Takaedza (2019) The learning process that best support the development of competence among nursing students in practice, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/29131>