Professional nurses supporting learners during professional socialisation in Limpopo province.

Background: Professional nurses play a significant role in the professional socialisation of learner nurses during clinical placement. Clinical placements are areas of experiential learning as learner nurses come in contact with real-life experiences. Professional nurses are custodians of learners and need to offer them support. Aim: The study sought to explore the role of professional nurses in supporting learner nurses during professional socialisation. Setting: Four clinical health facilities in Limpopo province at different levels of care were purposely sampled to obtain information from different levels of care. Methods: An ethnonursing approach and qualitative, explorative design was used. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select 25 professional nurses. The criteria were professional nurses with 3 years of experience in professional socialisation and working in institutions accredited for clinical placement of learner nurses registered in the undergraduate programme. Data were collected through a face-to-face interview until data saturation was reached. Tesch's open coding system was used to analyse data. Results: Professional nurses acknowledged that their responsibilities in supporting learners during professional socialisation are mentoring, teaching and being competent practitioners. Professional nurses were aware of their role in transferring ethical skills and knowledge to learners through professional socialisation. Conclusion: The effectiveness of professional socialisation of learner nurses depends on the support offered during clinical placements. Contribution: The study adds to the body of knowledge in nursing education and practice because when learners are offered support in the clinical areas, their learning journey will be of positive experience leading to competent practitioners.

Expectations of learner nurses in sampled clinical areas of the Limpopo province, South Africa.

Background: Nurse training in South Africa requires placing learner nurses in real-life setting for them to gain practical experience. To complete their training and be competent practitioners, learner nurses must have expectations and aspirations when they go for practice. Aim: This study sought to understand learner nurses' expectations at clinical learning areas during placement. Setting: Four clinical learning areas in the Limpopo province were purposely sampled. Tertiary, regional and district hospitals were sampled to obtain information from different levels of care. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive and contextual design was used to explore the expectations of learner nurses during clinical placements. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from various bodies and ethical considerations were ensured. Nonprobability purposive sampling was used, and six focus groups were formed. Each focus group discussion (FGD) had six to eight participants. The FGDs were according to level of study, with the third and fourth levels each having two FGDs because of the number of participants. Results: The following three themes emerged: milieu in the clinical learning areas, learning in the clinical areas and self-actualisation. Conclusion: The clinical learning areas are institutions of promoting learning through practice. They should promote learning and offer support to learners so that learners meet their expectations, which may prevent discouragement and attrition. Contribution: This study adds to the body of knowledge in nursing education and practice because when students' expectations are met, their training outcome might be positive leading to competent professional nurses.

Facilitators of professional socialisation of learners in the clinical learning areas: A qualitative systematic review.

BACKGROUND:  Professional socialisation is significant in nursing as it involves immersing learners in the profession so that they adopt the ethical values and conduct of the profession. It is in the clinical learning areas where learners observe and practise those values. The objective of the review was to explore the factors that promote professional socialisation of learners in the clinical learning areas. The problem is the inadequate support for learner nurses in the clinical learning areas. The South African community has lost trust in nurses and that was even acknowledged in the national nursing summit in 2011. OBJECTIVES:  To present a review of the factors that facilitate professional socialisation among undergraduate nursing learners. METHOD:  A systematic review was conducted on literature from 2008 to 2018. The literature search focused on factors that facilitate professional socialisation of learner nurses. A search of databases was conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Science Direct. The search focused on literature on professional socialisation of learner nurses published from 2008 to 2018. The search resulted in 3035 articles which were further reduced to 13 after further synthesis. Critical appraisal skills programme was used to assess the quality of the studies. RESULTS:  Three main themes emerged. Learner factors, factors in the clinical learning areas and interpersonal factors were identified as the factors that facilitate professional socialisation of learners. CONCLUSION:  Learners should have self-motivation and be supported and assisted to develop a positive professional identity. The clinical learning environment should have effective communication that fosters learning. Professional nurses should act as exemplary role models so that learners can emulate the conduct and practice. The review brought to light that the professional socialisation of learners is affected by the learner factors, clinical learning areas and personal factors.