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Introduction: Clinical nursing education is an important component of the professional development of nursing students. Key informants such as nursing lecturers, nurse managers and clinical placement coordinators play an essential role in clinical education. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the perspectives of key informants on how the current state of clinical nursing education in Northern Ghana can be improved. Methods: The study used an exploratory qualitative design. Sixteen participants were purposively selected and data were collected through face-to-face individual interviews. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Findings: The study findings indicate that clinical nursing education can be improved by decreasing the overcrowding of students in the clinical setting, decreasing the theory-practice gap and providing relevant material resources in the clinical facilities. Also, nursing education institutions can improve clinical nursing education by equipping the skills laboratories, engaging an adequate number of lecturers, and carrying out clinical accompaniment. Conclusion: There is a need to improve clinical education through collaboration between nursing education institutions and clinical facilities. Effective collaboration will ensure the planning of clinical placement to avoid overcrowding, provision of continuous professional development programmes for preceptors and improvement in clinical supervision. Also, the provision of material resources in skills laboratories and clinical facilities to enhance clinical teaching should be given priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The inability of nursing education institutions, particularly in lowresource settings to train competent nurses has been partly attributed to the challenges faced by nurse educators in the teaching of practical skills and in facilitating the development of clinical competence. Unfortunately, the perceptions and challenges faced by nurse educators in clinical nursing educationin diploma nursing education in low-resource settings have not been explored. Purpose: This study aimed to explore and describe the perceptions and challenges of nurse educators in the teaching of practical skills and in facilitating the development of clinical competence in diploma nursing education in Ghana, a lowresource setting. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used in this study. Nine nurse educators tasked with teaching practical skills and facilitating the development of clinical competence from three accredited diploma-awarding public nursing colleges - one in each of the three geographical zones of Ghana - were purposively sampled and interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The data were analysed with the aid of ATLAS.ti software through the thematic framework approach of qualitative data analysis. Results: Four themes, namely nurse educator and student factors, skills learning environment factors, institutional challenges, and regulatory issues, were identified and described the challenges of practical skills teaching and clinical competence development confronting nurse educators in the study setting. Conclusion: To address these challenges, policy measures should be implemented to ensure adequate national investment in nursing education and incentives to promote nurse educator development and performance. Nurse educators and their labour union should therefore strongly advocate for this transformation in nursing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Innovations in clinical nursing education are critical in enhancing the experiences of students, especially in the era of coronavirus pandemic. This study aimed at investigating nurse preceptors' perceptions of use, intention to use and self-efficacy towards digital technology in preceptorship in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. Methods: A concurrent type of mixed-methods design with a non-randomised interventional study using three-phase multi-methods technique was conducted among nurse preceptors in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana. Forty-five nurse preceptors participated in a pre and post training intervention while seven were purposively selected for the qualitative interview. Complimentarity method of triangulation was used in the analysis. The quantitative data were analysed with STATA version 16 and presented using frequencies, percentages, means with standard deviations and McNemar's test while qualitative data were analysed using the six steps approach to qualitative data analysis by Braun and Clarke. Results: Perceived usefulness statement "using technology will improve clinical teaching" increased from 19 (42.22%) at baseline to 44 (97.78%) post intervention. Perceived ease of using technology statement "I would find it easy to get this technology to do what I want it to do" also increased from 36 (80.00%) to 41 (91.11%) post intervention. Self-efficacy increased from 40 (88.89%) to 43 (95.56%) after the intervention. There was a statistically significant difference between pre-training and post-training scores regarding tablet (p = 0.016) and experience with online library resources (p = 0.039). The qualitative results yielded three themes, namely: strengths of using technology; constraints in the learning environment; and future of technological approach to clinical teaching. Conclusions: The training intervention improved participants intentions, self-efficacy, perceived use and perceived ease of use of technology. However, there are constraints in the clinical learning environment including students and preceptor-related factors, and institutional factors that needs to be addressed as part of efforts to implement technology in clinical teaching in this era of COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing demand for competent nurses to fill the shortage gap, nursing education institutions have not always been able to equip students with the requisite clinical competence needed in the practice setting. Several studies have described the experiences of undergraduate nursing students in the clinical learning environment. No study was found on the experiences of diploma nursing students and post-registration nurses regarding the teaching and learning of clinical competence in Ghana. This study, therefore, sought to describe the experiences and perceptions of diploma nursing students and post-registration nurses regarding the teaching and learning of clinical competence in Ghana. A qualitative descriptive research design was employed in this study. Fifty-five (55) participants, comprising 40 students and 15 post-registration diploma nurses, from six research sites were recruited into focus group discussions (FGDs) using a maximum variation purposive sampling technique. A thematic framework method was used to analyze the data with the aid of ATLAS.ti software. Three themes emerged from the focus group discussions: nursing education institutional factors; clinical placement design, implementation, and system challenges; challenges of clinical teaching and learning. We conclude that the current approach to clinical nursing education, such as the overreliance on clinical placement and the use of more teacher-centered teaching approaches, are ineffective in facilitating the development of clinical competence. A review of the nursing curriculum, inculcating evidence-based simulation modalities, and an adequate investment in nursing education may be required to ensure effective nursing education in the study setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Clinical nursing education is an important component of the professional development of nursing students. Key informants such as nursing lecturers, nurse managers and clinical placement coordinators play an essential role in clinical education. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the perspectives of key informants on how the current state of clinical nursing education in Northern Ghana can be improved. Methods: The study used an exploratory qualitative design. Sixteen participants were purposively selected and data were collected through face-to-face individual interviews. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Findings: The study findings indicate that clinical nursing education can be improved by decreasing the overcrowding of students in the clinical setting, decreasing the theory-practice gap and providing relevant material resources in the clinical facilities. Also, nursing education institutions can improve clinical nursing education by equipping the skills laboratories, engaging an adequate number of lecturers, and carrying out clinical accompaniment. Conclusion: There is a need to improve clinical education through collaboration between nursing education institutions and clinical facilities. Effective collaboration will ensure the planning of clinical placement to avoid overcrowding, provision of continuous professional development programmes for preceptors and improvement in clinical supervision. Also, the provision of material resources in skills laboratories and clinical facilities to enhance clinical teaching should be given priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical practicum is an integral part of nursing education because it provides students with opportunities to perform nursing care and practice specific nursing tasks. In Ghana, little is known about the experiences of baccalaureate student nurses with regard to intra-semester clinical practicum. This study therefore, explored perceptions, challenges, and how the intra-semester clinical practicum affects the learning process of student nurses in a private university in Ghana. Methods: Exploratory descriptive phenomenological design was used. Nine in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted for baccalaureate student nurses in their second, third and fourth years of study. Only those who have attended intra-semester clinical practicum for at least two semesters in the course of their study were recruited. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants. The sample size was based on data saturation, however, a total of 33 participants were recruited. Data was analysed using content analysis technique. Results: The findings show that baccalaureate student nurses perceive the intra-semester clinical practicum as beneficial. It affords the opportunity to translate theoretical knowledge into practice concurrently. However, students recounted their stressful experiences during the clinical period which negatively affected their academic work. Additionally, staff nurses assigned the students to do menial jobs instead of appropriate nursing tasks. Conclusions: A review of the "block" method in which students will go to clinicals for a stipulated number of consecutive days in a month and then resume lectures, is worth considering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]