An exploration of a personal-professional developmental programme for pre-registration nurses from a multicultural setting

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A nurse has to develop certain concepts, attitudes, knowledge and skills in nursing. For thepurpose of this study the researcher explored a private nursing school in the Southern Cape withthe focus on their personal-professional developmental (PPD) programme. The researcherexplored the feasibility of this programme by describing the pre-registration nurses' perceptionson the value and contribution of the programme to their personal and professional development.In particular, the exploration addressed the nurses from a multicultural setting who found itdifficult to adapt to the nursing norms, values or working culture. This was done in order tomake a difference in the nature of the above-mentioned programme so that it would suit thenurses from different cultures and also set up a programme which will ensure quality nursepatientcare through enhanced communication skills, empathy and critical thinking abilities. Theobjectives set for this study were to explore the perceptions of pre-registration nurses from amulticultural setting who were involved in this programme in order to determine whether thePPD programme contributed to their life enrichment and level of knowledge and to explore theperceptions of the professional nurses supervising the pre-registration nurses with regard toadditional knowledge, skills and attitudes gained after the completion of the PPD programme. Aquantitative research approach with a smaller qualitative component and a descriptive design wasselected. The population for this study comprised all the pre-registration nurses of the abovementionedschool (N=120) and all the professional nurses who worked closely with the preregistrationnurses (N=27). A structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were usedto collect the data. The sample of pre-registration nurses who took part included the entirepopulation (n=120). The non-probability purposive sampling of the professional nurses who tookpart in this study comprised 14 participants. Reliability and validity were assured by means of apre-test of the questionnaire and the use of experts in nursing education, research methodologyand statistics. Data were collected personally by the researcher. Ethical approval was obtainedfrom Stellenbosch University and the head of the particular private hospital. Informed writtenconsent was obtained from the participants. It seemed that the multicultural pre-registrationnurses felt the PPD programme was effective and contributed to the skills they needed to bepassionate and knowledgeable nurses. On completion of the study key recommendations weremade regarding the improvement of communication between pre-registration nurses andmanagement at ward level, the implementation of a structured programme with measurable, accessible outcomes, and the provision of classes in computer literacy as well as basic researchskills.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University