Factors that motivate students to succeed at a nursing college in the Western Cape
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Date
2017
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Publisher
The University of the Western Cape
Abstract
The role of nursing education is to strengthen and develop human values and feelings in nursing
students, aiming to make them intellectuals, as well as skilled persons. The nurse educator and
nursing institutions are responsible for providing quality education and maintaining high
academic standards. However, the standards are threatened due to the nursing students'
relatively poor performance over the past few years at the nursing college selected for this
study. Despite the reported poor performance, there are success stories that are observed amid
daily challenges encountered by the nursing students in this study context.
This study aimed at determining and describing the factors that motivate nursing students to
succeed and achieve better learning outcomes in a nursing college in the Western Cape. The
Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction (ARCS) model was used as a framework to
guide the study. A quantitative approach with a cross sectional, descriptive design was
followed. The target population consisted of 768 nursing students from the second to the fourth
year, who were registered for the nursing qualification in the selected nursing college. Two
hundred and fifty-seven (257) participants were randomly sampled, and a self-developed
questionnaire was used to collect data. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed using
the Cronbach's Alpha test and the final scored for the instrument was 0.8 after two questions
were omitted. The validity was maintained through the involvement of experts to evaluate
whether the content of the instrument measured what was intended. Data analysis was done
using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 22.0. Descriptive statistics
were applied to test for frequencies in responses, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to
find the statistically significant differences among the groups in the study. Ethics approval from
the University of the Western Cape and the participating nursing college was obtained.Throughout the study, respect for persons, beneficence and justice as ethics principles were
maintained. The study revealed that, although most students felt that the topics of their studies
were relevant to their lives, specific issues, such as the use of humour in teaching, inadequate
academic support and an unsatisfactory learning environment, still prevailed. Based on the
above research findings among others, suggestions were drafted by the researcher to increase
factors that would motivate nursing students based on the ARCS model to convey improvement
in the teaching of nursing students, resulting in their success in their institution, as well as the
Western Cape region.
Description
Magister Curationis - Mcur