Student midwives' knowledge, skills and competency in relation to the active management of the third stage of labour: A correlational study.

BACKGROUND: Lesotho has been experiencing health challenges as indicated by its high maternal mortality ratio of 620 per 100 000 live births for the year 2010, which has been linked to its limited human resources. OBJECTIVES: The knowledge and skills of final-year student nurse-midwives related to the active management of the third stage of labour were determined. METHOD: A quantitative, descriptive survey design was used to conduct this study with 99 final-year midwifery students at four nursing schools in Lesotho using stratified sampling. The structured questionnaire collected data on the knowledge and self-reported competency. Subsequently, the controlled cord traction marks, extracted from the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), were compared to the self-reported competency of these midwifery students using R software version 3.4.0. RESULTS: The mean score for knowledge and the OSCE was 73.8% (n = 99) and 77.2% (n = 99), respectively. The majority of respondents (95.2%, n = 99) rated themselves highly in terms of the active management of the third stage of labour competency. There was no correlation between the self-reported competency and knowledge (r = 0.08, p = 0.4402), and self-reported competency and OSCE scores (r = -0.004, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The high mean scores for the knowledge and the OSCE indicate that the theoretical component of the curriculum on the active management of the third stage of labour was effective in equipping final-year midwifery students with knowledge and skills to carry out this competency.

Professionalism experiences of undergraduate learner nurses during their 4-year training programme at a Higher Education Institution in the Western Cape, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Professional socialisation of student nurses needs to be integrated into the formal teaching and learning during the nursing programme. Embedded in the training programme are professional values that are used synonymously with nursing professionalism. Professionalism is the conduct, qualities, values, vision, mission and/or goals that characterise a profession, and describes behaviours that are expected within the profession's members. However, one's values are shaped by one's experiences, influence one's behaviour and interactions with others, and are manifested in many aspects of professional behaviour. New nurses to the profession are expected to display behaviours of professionalism, thus requiring nurse training schools to help students internalise these behaviours. Nurse educators therefore carry a responsibility to shape future nurses' growth towards professionalism. OBJECTIVES: This article reports on the experiences of undergraduate student nurses regarding nursing professionalism during their 4-year training programme at a Higher Education Institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. METHOD: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design was applied. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with first- to fourth-year student nurses registered for the undergraduate nursing programme. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using open coding. Ethical principles and trustworthiness were maintained throughout the study. RESULTS: Six main themes indicated that undergraduate student nurses experienced issues with role modelling, language barriers, their own understanding of professional behaviour, reasons for students and practitioners' unprofessional behaviour, prejudice towards degree students and students' professional or unprofessional behaviour experienced as contributing to the image of the profession. CONCLUSION: Student nurses received mixed messages leading to emotional turbulence. They needed clear guidance from role models to demonstrate how to behave professionally.

Professionalism experiences of undergraduate learner nurses during their 4-year training programme at a Higher Education Institution in the Western Cape, South Africa

Background: Professional socialisation of student nurses needs to be integrated into the formal teaching and learning during the nursing programme. Embedded in the training programme are professional values that are used synonymously with nursing professionalism. Professionalism is the conduct, qualities, values, vision, mission and/or goals that characterise a profession, and describes behaviours that are expected within the profession's members. However, one's values are shaped by one's experiences, influence one's behaviour and interactions with others, and are manifested in many aspects of professional behaviour. New nurses to the profession are expected to display behaviours of professionalism, thus requiring nurse training schools to help students internalise these behaviours. Nurse educators therefore carry a responsibility to shape future nurses' growth towards professionalism.Objectives: This article reports on the experiences of undergraduate student nurses regarding nursing professionalism during their 4-year training programme at a Higher Education Institution in the Western Cape, South Africa.Method: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design was applied. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with first- to fourth-year student nurses registered for the undergraduate nursing programme. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using open coding. Ethical principles and trustworthiness were maintained throughout the study.Results: Six main themes indicated that undergraduate student nurses experienced issues with role modelling, language barriers, their own understanding of professional behaviour, reasons for students and practitioners' unprofessional behaviour, prejudice towards degree students and students' professional or unprofessional behaviour experienced as contributing to the image of the profession.Conclusion: Student nurses received mixed messages leading to emotional turbulence. They needed clear guidance from role models to demonstrate how to behave professionally

Cracking the nut of service-learning in nursing at a higher educational institution.

BACKGROUND: The readiness of academics to engage in the service-learning (SL) institutionalisation process is not accentuated in research on SL institutionalisation in South Africa. The argument has been advanced that SL scholarship and willingness of key stakeholders are crucial for SL institutionalisation at the academic programme level. AIM: The research focus of the study being reported here was on readiness of respondents to embed SL in the curricula of the nursing programme. METHOD: This study used a quantitative, exploratory and descriptive design. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a stratified sample comprising 34 respondents. The data were analysed for descriptive statistics using SPSS 19. RESULTS: The demographic profile of the respondents indicated that 31 (66%) were between 31 and 50 years old; 36 (75.16%) had a minimum of 10 years' nursing experience; 19 (39.6%) had a master's degree, two (4.2%) had a doctorate; and 29 (60.4%) had been employed by the school for a maximum of five years. The results indicated that the nurse educators were in need of SL capacity-building because 9 (18.8%) had limited or no knowledge of SL and 24 (50%) confused SL with other forms of community engagement activities. However, only 15 (33%) of the clinical supervisors and 13 (27%) of the lecturers indicated a willingness to participate in such a programme. CONCLUSION: The school was not ready to embed SL in the academic programme because of a lack of SL scholarship and willingness to remediate the identified theory-practice gaps.

The development of an implementation framework for service-learning during the undergraduate nursing programme in the Western Cape Province.

BACKGROUND: Service-learning (SL) is a contested field of knowledge and issues of sustainability and scholarship have been raised about it. The South African Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) has provided policy documents to guide higher education institutions (HEIs) in the facilitation of SL institutionalisation in their academic programmes. An implementation framework was therefore needed to institutionalise the necessary epistemological shifts advocated in the national SL policy guidelines. OBJECTIVES: This article is based on the findings of a doctoral thesis that aimed at developing an SL implementation framework for the School of Nursing (SoN) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). METHOD: Mixed methods were used during the first four phases of the design and developmenti ntervention research model developed by Rothman and Thomas. RESULTS: The SL implementation framework that was developed during Phase 3 specified the intervention elements to address the gaps that had been identified by the core findings of Phases 1 and 2. Four intervention elements were specified for the SL implementation framework. The first intervention element focused on the assessment of readiness for SL institutionalisation. The development of SL capacity and SL scholarship was regarded as the pivotal intervention element for three of the elements: the development of a contextual SL definition, an SL pedagogical model, and a monitoring and evaluation system for SL institutionalisation. CONCLUSION: The SL implementation framework satisfies the goals of SL institutionalisation, namely to develop a common language and a set of principles to guide practice, and to ensure the allocation of resources in order to facilitate the SL teaching methodology.The contextualised SL definition that was formulated for the SoN contributes to the SL operationalisation discourse at the HEI.

Environmental and nursing-staff factors contributing to aggressive and violent behaviour of patients in mental health facilities.

BACKGROUND: Aggressive and violent behaviour of inpatients in mental health facilities disrupts the therapeutic alliance and hampers treatment. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to describe patients' perceptions of the possible environmental and staff factors that might contribute to their aggressive and violent behaviour after admission to a mental health facility; and to propose strategies to prevent and manage such behaviour. RESEARCH DESIGN: A qualitative, phenomenological study was utilised, in which purposefully sampled inpatients were interviewed over a six-month period. Inpatients were invited to participate if they had been admitted for at least seven days and were in touch with reality. METHOD: Forty inpatients in two mental health facilities in Cape Town participated in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews over a period of six months. Tesch's descriptive method of open coding formed the framework for the data analysis and presentation of the results. Trustworthiness was ensured in accordance with the principles of credibility, confirmability, transferability and dependability. RESULTS: Analysis of the data indicates two central categories in the factors contributing to patients' aggressive and violent behaviour, namely, environmental factors and the attitude and behaviour of staff. CONCLUSION: From the perspective of the inpatients included in this study, aggressive and violent episodes are common and require intervention. Specific strategies for preventing such behaviour are proposed and it is recommended that these strategies be incorporated into the in-service training programmes of the staff of mental health facilities. These strategies could prevent, or reduce, aggressive and violent behaviour in in-patient facilities.

The academic transitional experiences of masters' students at the University of the Western Cape.

Transition has been a major focus of educational institutions. However, most of the research into student transition focuses on the challenges related the transition from high school to university. Not much emphasis has been placed on the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate studies, despite the steadily increasing postgraduate enrolment rates in higher education institutions. The discrepancy between the enrolment and completion rates is an indication that postgraduate students are facing transitional challenges when engaging with postgraduate studies. The aim of this research study was to describe the academic transitional experiences of masters' students in the Faculty of Community Health Sciences at the University of the Western Cape. The objectives were to determine the academic preparedness of postgraduate students, to explore their primary motivations for pursuing postgraduate studies, and to assess their utilisation of the available support services at UWC. A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was employed. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with masters' students during 2009, using convenience sampling. Data was statistically analysed using the SPSS to provide descriptive statistics. The majority of the sample indicated a lack of academic preparedness, even though most of them had a bachelor's degree. The primary reasons listed as motivation for master's study were to improve knowledge and reaching self-actualisation. The majority is still eager to complete their studies. Most support systems were utilised and students rated these services as a positive experience that facilitates smooth academic transition. However, concerns are that not many students utilised the academic writing centre and those who did, rated the overall service as average. One of the main recommendations was that a research culture needs to be established.