Title : Qualitative retrospective case study on voices of learner nurses mentees: Significance of the peer group clinical mentoring programme in the resource-stricken nursing education institution
Abstract:
Background: The cornerstone of a nursing education programme is clinical competency and professional growth among learner nurses. Thus demanding and complex training of learner nurses requires various clinical teaching and learning strategies, such as peer-group clinical mentoring. Even with all other clinical learning methods, peer-group clinical mentoring is cost-effective for training learner nurses, especially in the context of limited resources, as the literature suggests. During the researcher’s undergraduate education and tenure as a community service nurse, it was experienced that the peer-group clinical mentoring programme exists. However, it was noted that this peer-group mentoring programme was ineffective, as is evident by the lack of a formal support programme, non-committed senior leaner nurse mentors and academic staff members. Common challenges that evident to impede the peer-group clinical mentoring programme are a lack of nursing educators support and management and poor planning and implementation of this programme among learner nurses.
Purpose and method: Therefore, this research aimed to explore the significance of a peer-group clinical mentoring programme from the experiences of undergraduate nursing students in a resource-stricken nursing education institution in the North-West Province. A qualitative retrospective case study research design was employed to achieve the aim and objectives of this research. Two separate World cafe sessions following a semi-structured schedule based on Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) were conducted with 51 learner nurses who were mentored in clinical practice. More importantly, Four Levels of Analysis, as drawn from the Indigenous Health Research Framework described by Pienaar (2017), were used to bring meaning to the collected data.
Results: Five themes emerged in this research, and the findings reveal that peer-group clinical mentoring programme creates a space for learner nurses to acquire clinical competence and professionalism while interacting and socializing with one another as well as with their mentors, which promotes teamwork and not limited to psych-social well-being and decreased clinical absenteeism among learner nurses during clinical learning.
Conclusion: Despite the poorly implemented peer-group clinical mentoring programme in the resource-stricken nursing education institution, the findings of this research showed that a peer-group clinical mentoring programme is an essential approach to fostering clinical competence and professionalism among learner nurses. Thus this research recommends revitalizing and reinforcing the peer-group clinical mentoring programme to foster clinical competency and professionalism and promote learner nurses psych-social well-being.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- The findings of this qualitative study contribute significant knowledge to the field of nursing education and clinical practice, which might not have been possible if different methods had been employed.
- The novelty of this work is presented by the use of World Café as a data gathering method combined with Gibbs Reflective Cycle, which the audience will be able to employ in future research in the healthcare industry.
- This article will support nurse educators and other stakeholders in reviving and strengthening the peer-group clinical mentoring program in their institutions to enhance learner nurses' clinical learning.
- Empower other faculties and nursing education institutions to sustain or implement an undergraduate peer-group clinical mentoring programme to foster clinical competency and professionalism among learners.
- There is limited use of Reflective Case Studies in nursing research. Thus this paper might encourage researchers to replicate this design in improving nursing care, practice and education.
