A Survey of Nurse Informatics Competencies of Professional Nurses in Clinical Practice Public Hospitals in South Africa.

Competence in Nursing Informatics (NI), is vital for efficient nursing care in today's technologically-enabled healthcare environment. In South Africa, little is known on the competence of professional nurses in clinical practice in nursing informatics. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey to examine self-rated competence in nursing informatics among 205 nurses in clinical practice across two hospitals in the Western Cape. The TANIC© scale was used to rate the skills of participants in computer literacy, clinical information management, and information literacy. RESULTS: The highest rating was received for computer literacy, approaching a 'comfortable' competency level. Lower scores were received for clinical information management and information literacy, indicating 'novice' to 'advanced beginner' levels. CONCLUSION: The study showed that practicing nurses have a limited level of nursing informatics competence, especially in the domains of clinical information management and information literacy. These findings support the need for educational programmes to extend beyond basic computer skills and prioritize continuous professional development in nursing informatics.

Nursing informatics skills relevance and competence for final year nursing students.

BACKGROUND:  The increasing use of technology in nursing practice requires nursing students to be competent in nursing informatics with an attitude of acceptance of technology in the healthcare environment. OBJECTIVES:  The objectives of the study were to determine final year nursing students' perceptions and skills in nursing informatics and their attitudes towards computerisation in nursing practice. METHOD:  The study population were 198 final year nursing students from a selected university in the Western Cape, South Africa. All-inclusive sampling was used. A descriptive survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire which included two validated scales, namely the validated Nursing Informatics Competency Assessment Tool (NICAT) and the Nurses' Attitudes towards Computerisation scale. Means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the ratings of the perceived relevance of nursing informatics skills in nursing practice, perceived levels of competence in nursing informatics skills and attitudes towards computers were calculated. RESULTS:  A total of 91 undergraduate respondents completed the survey. Computer literacy skills were rated overall as most relevant (4.23, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 4.06-4.40) and the skills perceived most competent (4.16, 95% CI: 3.81-4.22). The respondents had an overall positive score for attitudes towards computerisation in healthcare (67.34, s.d. = 10.40, 95% CI: 65.18-69.51). CONCLUSION:  The study concluded that computer literacy skills, informatics literacy skills and information management skills were relevant to nursing practice, despite varying levels of competence in these skills among nurses.Contribution: What key insights into the research results and its future function are revealed? How do these insights link to the focus and scope of the journal? It should be a concise statement of the primary contribution of the manuscript; and how it fits within the scope of the journal.

A cross-sectional survey to compare the competence of learners registered for the Baccalaureus Curationis programme using different learning approaches at the University of the Western Cape.

The purpose of the study was to compare the extent to which the different teaching approaches applied in the Baccalaureus Curationis programme adequately prepare graduating learners for professional competence. The research methodology was a quantitative approach, based on descriptive research, with a clinical competence development model to guide the data collection procedure. The target population of the study included a sample of 250 learners in the four-year B.Cur programme, that extended from first-to-fourth-year. Stratified random sampling was applied to select the sample learners for this research and data were collected by means of a five-point Likert scale questionnaire. Data were organised and managed using the SAS statistical software package. Descriptive statistics were gathered with measures of central tendency and dispersion included, and their findings were illustrated on descriptive tables. A correlation technique was applied to determine the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable.The results of the study indicated that progression in competence did not occur as learners progressed through higher levels of their training, except during the third-year of study. However, the study's results confirmed the strengths of the Case-based clinical reasoning approach to teaching and learning. This approach is able to combine the strengths of the traditional methods, which dealt with large class sizes and that had a focus on learner centred learning, with a focus on clinical practice. This approach provides realistic opportunities for learners to experiment with solutions to dilemmas encountered in real life situations, from the protected and safe environment of the classroom. The first-year learners who were observed in this study, who although novices, were exposed to Case-based teaching approaches and showed more self-perceived competence than learners in later years. This occurred in spite of the limited exposure of the first-year learners to real life clinical situations. The outcome of this study recommends that more studies are conducted, in the School of Nursing at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), to explore teaching and learning approaches that fully maximise the clinical and theoretical competencies of the learners. The outcome further recommends that learner-centred teaching approaches, such as Case-based method, are applied to all year levels of study in the B.Cur programme, due to its proven value when it was applied to first-year learners. The Case-based clinical reasoning approach to learning, that has been implemented at the school, promotes competence and self confidence in learners and has enhanced their sense of responsibility to be actively involved in their own learning.