Undergraduate nurses' experience of the family health assessment as a learning opportunity

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Date

2008

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of undergraduate community health nursing students at the University of the Western Cape who conducted a family health assessment learning task in communities during their clinical fieldwork placement.The population included the 2008 semester two, third year undergraduate baccalaureus nursing students. These students completed their community health nursing modules at the end of the first semester. A total of nine (9) out of the eighty- nine (89) semester two students participated in this qualitative research study. The purposive and convenient sample consisted of those students who agreed to voluntarily participate in the research study. In-depth interviews were conducted with seven (7) female and two (2) male students to collect data. Field notes were taken and utilized to capture non-verbal communication of the participants. The focus f the researcher was to explore the lived experiences of students and not that of the family whom they interviewed. All interviews were audio recorded nd validated by participants after transcription, before any of the data was used for the data analysis process. The data collected was categorized into themes as guided by the systematic data analyses process according to Tesch’s (1990) method, as cited in Creswell (2003). Saturation was tested after nine interviews and the researcher found that no new data emerged. The importance of the research study was to reflect on the exploration of the self-reported lived experiences of the third year community ealth nursing students while conducting the family health assessment learning task.

Description

Magister Curationis - MCur (Dept. of Nursing)

Keywords

Phenomenology, In-depth interviews, Family health assessment, Clinical experiences, Student nurses, Community setting, Clinical placement coordinator

Citation