Health Science Colleges Research

The transition from student to professional nurse can be daunting and pose a difficult transition period for newly qualified nurses. The reasons for this difficulty can be poor preparation, unsupervised work, and insufficient guidance. Warriodene Hansen, a newly appointed lecturer at the Western Cape College of Nursing Boland Overberg, recently published an article “The perceptions of newly qualified nurses on the guidance by preceptors towards becoming experts in nursing.”  The study provides valuable information that could help in the promotion of preceptorship. Abstract Background: The new role as professional nurse can be a difficult transition for the new qualified nurses. During this time, factors such as not being well prepared, working without supervision and a lack of guidance can be the result of a difficult transition. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the perceptions of newly qualified nurses on the guidance given by their preceptors towards becoming expe

The article  Experiences of undergraduate nursing students during clinical practice at health facilities in Western Cape, South Africa was recently published in Curationis .  Mrs Fadana, a first-year lecturer is based at our Boland Overberg Campus in Worcester. The abstract reads: Background:   This study explored the experiences of undergraduate nursing students during clinical practice at healthcare facilities in the Boland Overberg area in Western Cape, South Africa. Few studies have been done on experiences of nursing students during clinical practice. However, there are still inadequacies, which lead to the deterioration of clinical practice quality. Objectives:   To explore and describe the experiences of undergraduate student nurses during clinical practice in healthcare facilities in Boland Overberg, in Western Cape, South Africa.  Method:  A qualitative, exploratory descriptive design was applied. Data collection was done using focus-group interviews to ascertain the undergra

  The article "Operational nurse managers’ perceptions on the competence of community service nurses in public settings" is published in Curationis and available on this  link                https://curationis.org.za/index.php/curationis/article/view/2174 Two of the authors (Dr. Vatiswa Maki and Dr Theresa Bock) is affiliated with the Western Cape College of Nursing (WCCN). Having a research article published in an accredited journal such as Curationis , has benefits for the researchers as well as their institutions. Their publication serves as a means to disseminate and make researchers and practitioners of similar interest, aware of new knowledge in their area of interest. Abstract Background: Community service nurses placed in the Western Cape Government public health facilities render essential healthcare to underserved populations. Anecdotal evidence from operational nurse managers indicated concerns that community service nurses may lack competence in basic required nur