Browsing by Author "Magerman, Yolande Nerissa"

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    Academic factors affecting learning at a nursing college in the Western Cape
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011-03) Magerman, Yolande Nerissa; Stellenberg, E. L.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Health Sciences. Dept. of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Nursing Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nursing education, including the individual nurse educator, has a responsibility to society and to students for providing quality education, for maintaining the highest academic standards, for the proficient use of teaching strategies and for ensuring adequate support to learners. These standards were threatened at a particular college in the Western Cape which instigated this study. This study aimed at investigating the academic factors that influenced learning at a particular nursing college in the Western Cape. The objectives included the following possible factors that may have contributed towards the unsatisfactory, academic performances of students: • Nursing as a career choice; • Selection criteria; • Approaches to learning; • Motivation and learning; • Language barrier to learning; and • Factors affecting the learning environment. A non-experimental, descriptive research design was applied with a quantitative approach. The target population (N = 963) consisted of nursing students following the course leading to registration as a professional nurse, according to the South African Nursing Council’s regulation 425, as promulgated by the Nursing Act 50 of 1978, as amended (Nursing Act 33 of 2005). Probability, stratified sampling was used to select the sample of participants (n = 174). A structured questionnaire, consisting of predominantly closed questions, was used for the collection of data. Ethical approval was obtained from Stellenbosch University to conduct this study. Permission to conduct the research was also obtained beforehand from the management of the nursing college being studied, whilst prior informed consent was obtained from each participant. Reliability and validity of the study were assured by means of a pilot study and through the use of experts in nursing research, methodology and statistics. Data was collected and captured by the researcher personally. The data was analysed with the support of a statistician and was expressed as frequencies and in tables and histograms. Descriptive statistics and post-hoc analyses, including tests for statistical associations, were performed. The outcomes from this study showed that third year students (n = 49/23%) spent the most time studying, whilst first years (n = 74/43%) and second years (n = 40/23%) only spent 2.3 hours studying per day. Academic support classes, when offered, were always attended by (n = 64/37%) and most times by (n = 72/42%). The majority of the participants were able to cope with the workload most of the time (n = 107/61%), whilst (n = 51/30%) and (n = 6/3%) of the participants indicated coping seldom and never, respectively. A significant relationship between the ages of participants and being able to cope with the workload (Spearman p-value = 0.02) existed. Results indicated that (n = 83/48%) of the participants received support with language problems, whilst (n = 75/43%) indicated that they did not receive support with language problems. The Afrikaans speaking participants coped the best with the workload (mean score = 1.72), followed by the English speaking students (mean score = 1.68), and lastly the Isi- Xhosa speaking learners (mean score = 1.65). Recommendations made by participants included the following: • Strict adherence to the selection criteria, which should help decrease the attrition rate. • English as a subject / module during the first year was proposed. • The promotion of the proficiency in English, through interaction between English speaking learners and students with English as second language, should be encouraged. • Regular updates of the contents of the curriculum. • The importance of identifying ‘at risk’ students and pro-actively introducing a mentorship programme. • Information technology needed to be improved in many aspects, such as accessibility of Web based communication. Results from the open ended questions showed that participants regarded the teaching strategies as boring. Large classrooms were also mentioned as a problem. Smaller classes were requested to enable more interaction in the class. In conclusion, this study showed that specific academic factors were influencing learning at the nursing college being investigated in the Western Cape. Therefore, recommendations were made in this study, which, if implemented, should result in an improvement in the overall academic performances of students.
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    Best practice guideline for nurses for the assessment and management of acute trauma-related pain in emergency centers
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Magerman, Yolande Nerissa; Jordan, P. J.; Van der Heever, M. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Nursing & Midwifery.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Background: Pain is a universal, common symptom experienced by patients admitted to the emergency center (EC). The global burden of pain includes trauma-related pain, which is a natural consequence of injury. Guidelines are necessary tools in evidence-based practice for the implementation of standardised nursing care with a common, efficient approach to patient care. The absence of a guideline for the assessment and management of acute trauma-related pain creates the opportunity for nurses to practice variantly and inconsistently leading to possible negative patient outcomes. Aim: The purpose of the study was to contextualise a best practice guideline for the assessment and management of acute trauma-related pain in emergency centers in the Western Cape, South Africa. Methods: The research was conducted in three phases. Phase one comprised of two quantitative studies: professional nurses in sub-study one, and the patients in sub-study two. Phase two consisted of a scoping review to identify, appraise, and summarise the content of the available best practice guidelines for the assessment and management of pain in adult patients within the emergency care settings. Phase three included the synthesis of the extracted recommendations and the drafting of the best practice guideline. Results: Data was collected from 118 professional nurses and 529 patients in the ECs of five hospitals in the Western Cape, South Africa. The findings indicated that approximately half of the nurses displayed adequate knowledge, while half have good knowledge and 4% have poor knowledge related to pain assessment and pain management. Attitudes and self-reported practices on pain assessment and management were congruent with the knowledge levels of nurses. Most of the nurses (n=63, 54%) did not consider their level of knowledge on the assessment and management of acute trauma-related pain to be up to date according to best practice nursing. Patient data findings indicated that the nurses did not consistently practise assessment and management of acute trauma-related pain in the ECs. The findings confirmed the need for base practices on the best available evidence. Six best practice guidelines on pain assessment and pain management were identified by means of the scoping review and 114 recommendations were extracted from them. The contextualised guideline was validated by nine external reviewers, who appraised the guideline using the AGREE II tool. An algorithm was developed as an evidence summary and supporting document for ease of reference for professional nurses in the EC. Conclusion: The need for a best practice guideline in the EC for professional nurses, as the end-users, was evident by the variation in practice, lack in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses. A contextualised best practice guideline was developed as the end-product of this research study. Further research is recommended to implement and test the feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness, and effectiveness of the best practice guideline for professional nurses in the EC in a South African context.