Nurse facilitators' perception regarding the facilitation of the development of clinical reasoning skills
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Authors
Jooste, Magdalena Elizabeth
Issue Date
2022-11
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Clinical reasoning skills of student nurses , Nurse facilitators , Clinical setting , Nurse education institutions , CRS
Alternative Title
Abstract
An important requirement for the professional nurse in South Africa is to formulate an individual
care plan based on the presenting data of a patient. This plan aims to treat the current condition
of a patient, as well as prevent further complications surrounding the condition. To rationalise
the decision made, a professional nurse needs to apply clinical reasoning skills. A student nurse
needs to acquire nursing skills during their training. The nurse facilitator is one of the role
players to facilitate the clinical reasoning skills (CRS) of nurse students. It was, therefore
important, to describe the nurse facilitator’s perception regarding the facilitation of the
development of CRS of nurse students.
The study aims to describe the nurse facilitator’s perceptions, opportunities, experienced during
the facilitation of the development of CRS of students as well as their recommendations for
better support in their task to facilitate CRS of students. Describing these perceptions,
contributed to the formulation of recommendations to support the nurse facilitator in their role, to
develop CRS in nurse students.
A qualitative descriptive research design was utilised, using four open-ended questions
embedded online through an organised file storage system developed by Google. A total of 53
nurse facilitators employed by a private nurse institute in South Africa were positively targeted.
Data collection occurred over three weeks. The results uncovered four themes: Theory and
practice integration; Resources; Student responsiveness and Facilitator competencies and eight
(8) sub-themes namely: Theoretical knowledge; Scientific nurse process; Human resources;
Physical resources; Lack of time for facilitation; Individual experience; Lack of like skills and
Continuous Professional Development.
The findings revealed the nurse facilitators’ accurate interpretation of the concept of CRS. The challenges experienced by the nurse facilitators that hinder the facilitation of the development of
CRS of nurse students concurred with that described by the literature. The facilitators expressed
creativity in the utilisation of opportunities when facilitating the development of CRS of students.
Finally, they described needed support to assist them to facilitate the development of CRS of
students.