Abstract
Objectives
To explore the values, practices, and behaviours that support nursing students’ professional development in practice-based learning environments in Rwanda.
Methods
A focused ethnographic approach was used. Nursing students (n=12), nurses (n=11), clinical instructors (n=7) and nurse leaders (n=8) from three teaching hospitals and an educational program participated in the study. Data was collected trough individual interviews and participant observation.
Results
Participants embraced a culture of preparing nursing students for their professional roles as a professional responsibility, and a means of securing the nursing profession. Modeling the appropriate behaviours to students and respecting them as learners and humans constituted the caring attributes that sustain a positive learning environment for their professional growth.
Conclusions
Nurturing and caring environments offer students opportunities to integrate caring attitudes into their interactions with patients and to develop professionally.
Implications for international audience
Findings underscore the need to enhance caring values within nursing curricula.
Funding source: Ontario Trillium Scholarship
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the participants in this study. The first author acknowledges the support received from David F. Cechetto through the Training Support and Access Model (TSAM) project, Rwanda.
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Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
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Ethical approval: The Office of Human Research Ethics of Western University, the Institutional Review Board of the University of Rwanda, and the Institutional Review Boards of each of the three participating sites approved the conduct of this study.
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Author contributions: UB: Was a PhD student and the primary investigator in the study, was responsible for the conception and design of the study, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and reporting of the study. YBM: Was the primary supervisor to the student. She guided the study from its conception, guided the conduct of the study, reviewed the coding and themes generation, and critically reviewed the manuscript. SR, MH and BL served as dissertation committee members. They guided the conception, the conduct of the study and the analysis, and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: This study was conducted as part of a PhD program funded by the Government of Canada through Trillium Scholarship. The authors wish to acknowledge this contribution.
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