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In Malawi, the educational role of Registered Nurses (RN) is formally acknowledged and is therefore regarded as one of the required competences of a professional nurse. However a question arises; “are Registered nurses well prepared to perform this role?” The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the perceptions of Registered nurse and Nurse Educators on the adequacy of an education Module in preparing nurse graduates for the expected role of Clinical teaching in Malawi.
Methods:
An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study was conducted. Data were collected in two phases. In Phase 1: Focus group discussions with the nine graduate Registered nurses in their first year of practice, using the nominal group technique were conducted. In Phase 2: Unstructured In-depth interviews with 3 Nurse Educators actively involved in the teaching of the Education Module were conducted. Data were analysed using the Braun and Clarke steps of thematic content analysis.
Results:
Results of both phases have shown that the module was not adequate in preparing the student Registered nurses for the role of clinical teaching. The findings revealed some strengths and weaknesses in the Module. It provides the necessary theories relating to education and that the module equips the Nurses with knowledge to be able to provide health education. The Module lacks practical experiences and assessment on clinical teaching, and that the component of clinical teaching is silent in the delivery of the module.
Conclusion:
The research revealed that there is no synchronisation of practice, education and legislation of nursing in the Nurse Education Institution. It is recommended that educational reforms should be put in place to ensure nurse training programmes produce graduates who are fit for their prescribed responsibilities which include clinical teaching. Therefore there is a need for the Malawi Nursing Education system to design a clinical education model which meets the country's needs and challenges rather thn just adopting models which may not apply to the country's needs.