Experiences of Learner Nurses, Nurse Educationalists and, Professional Nurses Regarding Professionalism an Undergraduate Nursing Programme

TITLE

Experiences of Learner Nurses, Nurse Educationalists and Professional Nurses Regarding Professionalism an Undergraduate Nursing Programme.

ABSTRACT

Background: The current health care environment requires professional nurses to be capable of managing complex professional issues. For this reason awareness have been raised amongst learner nurses, nurse educators, clinical facilitators and professional nurses of the need for strong professional values which is vital in the preparation of nurses to manage patient care in a capable and professional manner. The values of professionalism are implicit in the scientific knowledge and practical skills addressed in nurse’s professional training. One’s values however, are shaped from one`s experiences, and influence one`s behaviour and interactions with others and are manifested in many aspects of professional behaviour. Undergraduate learner nurses find themselves in the middle between the academic learning environment at an institution of higher learning and the clinical practice environment where nursing practice happens. Contributing and contextual factors in the health care practice environment influences the professional behaviour and subsequently the interaction of professional nursing staff with others, including undergraduate learner nurses. Variation in experiences between how the values of professionalism are taught in the academic learning environment at a higher education institution to undergraduate learner nurses and how it is expected of them to apply these values in the clinical learning environment at a health care institution where these learner nurses are placed for clinical practice, creates conflicting messages about professionalism, leaving the undergraduate learner nurse confused of what it means to behave professionally in nursing practice.

Objective: To use the experiences of learner nurses, nurse educationalists and professional nurses in a meaningful way to improve professionalism in undergraduate learner nurses for nursing practice.

 

Method: Qualitative data was collected with the use of focus group discussions with undergraduate learner nurses, nurse educators and clinical facilitators involved in the academic and clinical programme at a Higher Education Institution, as well as focus group discussions and unstructured individual interviews with professional nurses at three main academic hospitals where learner nurses were placed for clinical practice. Data were first analysed separately for each of the groups of participants and then converged for a cross-analysis of the separate groups to get a whole of the perspectives of all the participants. Common themes emerged from the convergence of the separate individual groups.

Results: The data analysis of the joined experiences of learner nurses, nurse educationalists and professional nurses, informed a conceptual framework of how nurse educationalists and professional nurses can facilitate professionalism in undergraduate learner nurses for nursing practice.

Conclusion: The experiences of learner nurses, nurse educationalists and professional nurses regarding professionalism provide meaningful insights for nursing education and nursing practice. Nursing education and nursing practice must be in collaboration and partnership with each other to bridge the gap between the academic learning environment and the clinical learning environment to facilitate professionalism for undergraduate learner nurses. There is a need for undergraduate learner nurses to feel part of the professional team when they are in the clinical practice environment.