Abstract
Student nurses’ competence in applying bioscience to practice is under-researched in South Africa. This paper reports on two objectives of a longer study: (1) to describe final year nursing students’ self-reported depth of understanding of six bioscience subjects; and (2) their perceptions of relevance of the bioscience subjects to their practice using descriptions of personal critical incidents and picture interpretations of three nursing activities. A descriptive observational survey was employed using a self-administered questionnaire at one time point in a classroom in a nursing college in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013. A sample of 76/236 (32.2%) fourth year students participated. Results showed that the majority of responses (n=252/456, 55.3%) across six subjects indicated self-reported adequate understanding of bioscience, but deep understanding for anatomy (n=35, 46.1%), physiology (n=32, 42.1%) and pharmacology (n=30, 39.5%). Respondents self-rated their understanding of biophysics, biochemistry and microbiology as superficial (n=31, 40.8%; n=32, 42.1%; n=16, 21.1%) respectively. Most respondents considered anatomy, physiology and pharmacology to be relevant for practice and microbiology to some extent but not biophysics and biochemistry. Most respondents’ (23/56, 41.1%) descriptions of their interventions in clinical situations aligned with Akinsanya’s Bionursing Model level two (task specific) and none at task level four (personal and professional development). The mismatch between self-reported adequate knowledge and a task approach to practice may be ameliorated by a practice model to guide an undergraduate biosciences curriculum. Key words: Bioscience, nursing, bionursing model, student nurse.
Highlights
And globally, bioscience subjects have underpinned curricula for the health professions
In our study 21 to 41% of the respondents felt they had a superficial understanding of biophysics, biochemistry and microbiology
The data from this study suggests that there is a mismatch between final year preregistration student nurses‟ self-reported adequate bioscience knowledge and their reported level of clinical practice
Summary
And globally, bioscience subjects have underpinned curricula for the health professions. To ensure patient safety (Andrew and Mansour, 2014) nurses need a good foundational knowledge of bioscience. The South African Nursing Council (SANC) has legislated for the inclusion of biological and natural sciences (anatomy, physiology, chemistry, biophysics, microbiology and parasitology). Explain the scientific background and rationale for the investigation being reported State specific objectives, including any prespecified hypotheses. Page 1 Page 2 Objectives, no hypotheses
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