Perceptions of student nurses on teaching and learning in skills laboratory at Nkhoma College of Nursing and Midwifery Lilongwe, Malawi

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2015-11-01
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In the past teaching and learning of clinical skills were wholly practiced at bedside in which patients were used as teaching aids and then changed to practical room which was teacher dominated. The profound change in nursing education and health care system had made these teaching methods less effective, as a result skills laboratory teaching and learning has been adopted as a strategy to support students’ development of skills before clinical placement. A descriptive quantitative study was conducted to describe perceptions of student nurse/midwives on teaching and learning in skills laboratory at Nkhoma College of Nursing and Midwifery in Lilongwe, Malawi. Data were collected from 91 students using a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software package version 16.0. Percentages and frequencies were used to summarise results. The results showed that, all the participants indicated that demonstration was predominantly used and the majority 92.4% (n=84) identified the demonstration to be the most useful learning strategy while small group discussion, self directed learning, peer learning, role play and reflection were viewed least useful. The majority 86% (n=78) needed educational video films while 13.2% (n=12) needed real objects such as dead body and placenta. Benefits of learning in skills laboratory included; participants became competent 87.9% (n=80), gained confidence 85.7% (n=78) and patients’ safety 29.7% (n=27). However, limited time for practice 81.3% (n=74), inadequate learning resources 42.9% (n=39), overcrowding of students during skills laboratory sessions 36.3% (n=33) and inadequate supervision 26.4% (n=24) were some of the challenges faced during learning. The recommendations made included; Opening time for skills laboratory should be revisited, enough resources should be available, in-service training for nurse educators should be conducted on effective use of the skills laboratory, replication of the same study at different nursing colleges with a larger sample and investigating the impact of skills laboratory teaching and learning on clinical performance.
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