Perceived Impact of University Education on Practices of Graduate Nurses at Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Nurses globally have made giant strides in the development of nursing, which has moved nurses' education from hospital-affiliated schools into Universities and colleges. The study determined the impact of the knowledge of the University level of education on nursing practices at Federal Medical Center, Owo. Method: A descriptive research design was adopted. Using a convenient sampling technique, a total of 133 nurses were accessed. Data were collected using a self-designed structured questionnaire which consists of five sections and a checklist to observe the practice of both graduate and diploma nurses. Data collected were analyzed with SPSS software using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: There are many benefits of university education as identified by the respondents as follows: it brings job satisfaction (89.5%), it helps to give the best care (86.3%), it gives room for competitiveness (89.5%), it encourages leadership role (92.6%), it increases the degree of autonomy in the nursing profession (90.5%), it helps to give best care (86.3%), and so on. The factors affecting the practices of graduate nurses include understaffing (86.4%), unavailability of necessary equipment (88.4%), Lack of role differentiation (86.3%), and Hospital policy (92.6%) and poor working condition of equipment and instruments (100.0%). There is a significantly higher degree of expertise in health care delivered by graduate nurses over diploma nurses; and their ability to plan, implement and evaluate patient care outcomes (P=0.009). In addition, a significant relationship exists between knowledge acquired by graduate nurses and their nursing care practices determines to be P= 0.004. In Conclusion, graduate nurses have a greater impact on healthcare delivery than diploma nurses. Therefore, they should be employed in larger numbers for better healthcare delivery in hospitals.