Introduction: There is documented evidence pointing to the fact that there are numerous challenges with postoperative pain (POP) management globally. However, these challenges with POP management are more profound in developing countries. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of nurses concerning POP management in four selected district hospitals in Ghana. Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was employed to evaluate nurse's knowledge, attitude, and practices pertaining to POP management. Multistaged sampling was used to draw the respondents. An adapted version of the Nurses Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain instrument was used to test the knowledge, attitude, and practices of nurses and midwives. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data in order to present quantitative descriptions of variables in this study. Results: This study showed that nurses in the four district hospitals had knowledge deficits regarding POP management. Eighty-one representing 48% of nurses had low knowledge on POP management. An overwhelming majority of nurses (97.6%) relied on routinely rendered basic nursing skills to relieve POP and a few used pharmacological interventions. However, nurses had good attitudes toward POP management. Conclusions: POP is ineffectively managed by nurses in district hospitals in Ghana. Nurses and midwives in Ghana need to adhere to best practices in POP management by increasing their theoretical and practical knowledge, so that there will be tangible positive change in POP management in Ghana. Recommendations: Nurses must be empowered through continuous development programs to keep abreast with changing trends that pertain to POP management.

Background. Preceptorship constitutes an important component of the educational process of training nursing students. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, perceived motivators, and perceived inhibitors to precepting nursing students at the clinical placement sites in the Cape Coast Metropolis of the Central Region of Ghana. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 442 nurses and midwives aged 27–56 years with at least three years of work experience. Data were collected with a questionnaire and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, exploratory factor analysis, and point biserial correlation. Results. The results indicate that the participants had a high knowledge of preceptorship of up to 91.2% (n = 404). A significant proportion of up to 88.2% (n = 390) had an intention to precept nursing students in the near future. The three important perceived motivational factors to precepting nursing students were the learning and professional needs of students, helping students to develop skills, and experience and formal recognition of the role of preceptorship. The main perceived inhibitors to engage in a preceptorship role were lack of preparation for the role, lack of support from faculty and nurse managers, and additional work burden. The results further indicate a significant strong positive correlation between experience and professional recognition of preceptorship and the intention to precept nursing students in the near future (r = 0.99, p = 0.037 ). Conclusions. The nurses and midwives who participated in the study are knowledgeable about preceptorship and have the intention to precept nursing students. Having enough experience on the job and being formally recognized as a preceptor may motivate these professionals to precept nursing students. However, there are critical perceived barriers that need to be addressed, to enable more nurses and midwives with the desire to precept students to engage in the preceptorship role.

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Background. Preceptorship plays an integral part in the clinical training of nursing and midwifery students, especially in high-income countries where it is a well-accepted concept. However, in Ghana, most nurses and midwives do not view preceptorship as part of their role. Aim. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of preceptorship of student nurses and the challenges confronting the preceptorship role. Methods. A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted with 22 purposively selected preceptors aged 34 to 56 years from five clinical placement sites in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana. Most of the participants had been preceptors for two to 18 years. In-depth interviews were conducted with the aid of a semistructured interview guide and analysed by qualitative thematic analysis inspired by Braun and Clarke’s description of the method. Results. The essence of the phenomenon has been captured in three main themes: (1) being excited about the role as it offered opportunities to learn and build relationship with students. (2) Encountering challenges including student’s unwillingness to learn, absenteeism, and disrespect and also lack of interest of staff to assist students, time constraints, workload, burnout, parallel schedules of preceptors, and large student numbers, and (3) the need for effective collaboration between educational institutions and hospitals. Conclusions. Though preceptors were excited about precepting student nurses, the challenges associated with it are multidimensional which requires effective collaboration between educational institutions and clinical placement sites.

Background. Clinical teaching and learning are critical in bridging the theory-practice gap in nursing education. This study aimed at exploring nursing students’ perception of clinical teaching and learning in Ghana. In particular, this study sought to (1) describe the factors that promote clinical teaching, (2) examine students’ perception of clinical teaching, (3) describe the impact of clinical learning on students, and (4) explore ways of improving clinical teaching and learning. Methods. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with 16 final-year nursing students using telephone-based interviews. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with a semistructured interview guide, and data were analysed by the qualitative thematic analysis. Results. The findings indicate that being taught new things, being supervised, and having autonomy were the most significant factors that promoted clinical learning. Participants also reported that clinical experience created learning opportunities that helped develop clinical competence. They described learning experiences in the clinical setting as good, albeit gaps in practice. Poor staff attitude, lack of equipment, poor student attitude, inadequate learning opportunities, and lack of clinical supervisors were perceived as challenges in the clinical environment. Conclusions. Efforts to consciously teach, supervise, and challenge students to have independence in the clinical area will promote clinical teaching and learning. Therefore, nursing educational institutions and all other stakeholders need to collaborate in eliminating the numerous challenges students encounter in the clinical environment.