Final year nursing students self-reported understanding of the relevance of bioscience

Abstract

Student nurses' competence in applying bioscience to practice is under-researched in South Africa. This paper reports on two objectives of a longer study: (1) to describe final year nursing students' selfreported depth of understanding of six bioscience subjects; and (2) their perceptions of relevance of the bioscience subjects to their practice using descriptions of personal critical incidents and picture interpretations of three nursing activities. A descriptive observational survey was employed using a self-administered questionnaire at one time point in a classroom in a nursing college in Cape Town, South Africa in 2013. A sample of 76/236 (32.2%) fourth year students participated. Results showed that the majority of responses (n=252/456, 55.3%) across six subjects indicated self-reported adequate understanding of bioscience, but deep understanding for anatomy (n=35, 46.1%), physiology (n=32, 42.1%) and pharmacology (n=30, 39.5%). Respondents self-rated their understanding of biophysics, biochemistry and microbiology as superficial (n=31, 40.8%; n=32, 42.1%; n=16, 21.1%) respectively. Most respondents considered anatomy, physiology and pharmacology to be relevant for practice and microbiology to some extent but not biophysics and biochemistry. Most respondents' (23/56, 41.1%) descriptions of their interventions in clinical situations aligned with Akinsanya's Bionursing Model level two (task specific) and none at task level four (personal and professional development). The mismatch between self-reported adequate knowledge and a task approach to practice may be ameliorated by a practice model to guide an undergraduate biosciences curriculum.

Factors that influence perceived disengagement in anatomy and physiology within undergraduate nursing

“…While there was a high degree of alignment across the cohorts sampled regarding the factors that prompted or enhanced student disengagement (see Table 5), bioscience educators tended to believe that 'limited prior knowledge of subject area' was the strongest source of disengagement, unlike the students. This may have been linked to the educator's exposure to literature suggesting that previous science education (such as during secondary schooling) is a predictor of perceived ability to apply bioscience concepts to clinical (patient) scenarios, [10,19] as well as their direct classroom experiences.…”

“…This is particularly challenging given the obvious import of bioscience knowledge in the development of clinical decision-making and clinical self-efficacy. [4,19,31] Educator's responses echoed much of the literature in that they felt their students did not appreciate the relevance of the bioscience courses, contributing to their lack of motivation. [9,19,20] There is, however, an apparently misalignment between student perception of lack of motivation as a contributor to disengagement (important) and relevance of the bioscience courses as a contributor to disengagement (not important).…”

“…[4,19,31] Educator's responses echoed much of the literature in that they felt their students did not appreciate the relevance of the bioscience courses, contributing to their lack of motivation. [9,19,20] There is, however, an apparently misalignment between student perception of lack of motivation as a contributor to disengagement (important) and relevance of the bioscience courses as a contributor to disengagement (not important). Our recent study exploring nursing students' appreciation of the biosciences for their future career, strongly corresponded with their progression through their studies; as students progress to the later years of their nursing education, their engagement with formal bioscience education decreases, while their clinical appreciation increases.…”

Theory-practice gap: Nursing students’ self-reported depth of understanding of bioscience and its relevance to clinical practice

“…As with many developing countries, nurses in South Africa are required to practice independently and autonomously. This is exacerbated by the fact that graduate nurses in South Africa are required to work in rural areas [ 10 ] where there is restricted access to medical doctors [ 11 ]. The Department of Health [ 12 ] reported that rural areas in South Africa contain 43.6% of the population but are assisted by only 12% of medical doctors and 19% of nurses.…”

“Sage on the stage or guide on the side”—Undergraduate nursing students’ experiences and expectations of bioscience tutors in a blended learning curriculum: A qualitative study

“…The relevance of bioscience to nursing is widely acknowledged by nursing students (Fell, Dobbins, & Dee, 2016;Rafferty & Kyriacos, 2016) and academics (Birks, Ralph, Cant, Hillman, & Ylona Chun, 2015). However, there appears to be a move away from the teaching of face-to-face bioscience in nursing programmes, which is potentially detrimental to nursing practice (Fawcett, Waugh, & Smith, 2016).…”