Abstract
BackgroundOne of the major challenges associated with nursing education in this 21st century is the practice preparation of student nurses to serve in complex healthcare environments and to ensure their fitness to practise in these environments. Clinical mentoring has shown promise in providing clinical learning support for student nurses. Most approaches are, however, biased towards higher-income settings without giving due consideration to the resources, culture and structures of health systems in resource-limited settings. It is also unclear how qualified nurses who act as nurse teachers experience the clinical mentoring of student nurses in resource-limited settings.AimThis study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of qualified nurses regarding the clinical mentoring of nursing students in resource-limited settings.SettingThe study took place in Mauritius, a developing country.MethodsA qualitative, exploratory, descriptive approach was used with a purposive sample of eight nurses. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and thematically analysed.ResultsThe findings indicated that mentoring per se was not practised, but rather general support, supervision or coaching. This resulted in the practice being less effective for its original purpose. Possible explanations included a lack of policy directives. Additionally, the mentoring practice was informal with unclear role expectations. Poor material and personal resources further compounded the challenges. An absence of buy-in and involvement of management along with a lack of monitoring clinical mentoring by the nursing school concludes the picture.ConclusionEffective clinical mentoring requires an understanding of the mentoring process from a broader perspective. Mentors should be equipped with core competencies. Successful mentoring outcomes are dependent on a conducive clinical learning environment and a clear mentoring approach.
Highlights
One of the major challenges associated with nursing education in the 21st century is the practice preparation of student nurses to serve in complex healthcare environments and to ensure that they are fit to practise in these environments (Mannino & Cotter 2016:1)
Clinical mentoring as a phenomenon was studied in five regional hospitals in Mauritius
Mentoring is differently exercised across clinical settings, the basic principles should at least be observed despite there being no universal standards for clinical mentoring
Summary
One of the major challenges associated with nursing education in the 21st century is the practice preparation of student nurses to serve in complex healthcare environments and to ensure that they are fit to practise in these environments (Mannino & Cotter 2016:1). One of the major challenges associated with nursing education in this 21st century is the practice preparation of student nurses to serve in complex healthcare environments and to ensure their fitness to practise in these environments. Most approaches are biased towards higher-income settings without giving due consideration to the resources, culture and structures of health systems in resource-limited settings It is unclear how qualified nurses who act as nurse teachers experience the clinical mentoring of student nurses in resource-limited settings
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