Nursing students’ perceptions and experiences of utilising the nursing process at a university teaching hospital in Namibia

Abstract

BackgroundThe appropriate utilisation of the nursing process, which is the scientific basis for the practice of nursing, can result in the provision of comprehensive and quality nursing care to patients. However, there is a major problem with utilisation of the nursing process. Utilisation of the nursing process depends on many factors, including knowledge and skills, which should ideally develop in nursing students during their nursing education. Few studies have assessed the utilisation of the nursing process among nursing students, thus the objective of this study was to explore and describe nursing students’ perceptions and experiences of utilising the nursing process. MethodsA qualitative exploratory descriptive research design was employed. Thirteen participants were purposefully sampled. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and data analysis was done thematically. FindingsSix themes emerged: understanding the nursing process; utilisation of the nursing process; theory-practice gap and practice-theory gap; learning experience; barriers to use of the nursing process; and benefits of the nursing process. The students understood the nursing process from a theoretical perspective, but experienced poor utilisation creating a negative learning experience. However, the students still believed there were some positive outcomes in the learning and use of the nursing process. ConclusionThe experiences and perceptions of nursing students regarding the utilisation of the nursing process showed that students have more theoretical than practical knowledge of the process. Their clinical experience is dominated by a theory/practice gap, leading to poor utilisation of the nursing process which negatively affects their learning experience. Despite these negative experiences, students perceived the nursing process as beneficial.