Professional Nurses’ Rating of Western Cape Nurse Graduates’ Competence and the Required Skills and Attributes

Abstract

Introduction: There is global concern that newly qualified nurse graduates lack skills and competence, due to inadequate preparation during nursing undergraduate programmes. The alignment of nursing programmes in South Africa to the Higher Education Qualification Sub-framework has created an opportunity to positively influence the design and development of new programmes based on research evidence. Aim: The study aimed to assess, from the perspective of professional nurses, the preparedness of nursing graduates from a Western Cape university for practice and to identify areas for programme improvement. Methods: The study employed a quantitative descriptive survey design and included professional nurses directly supervising the nursing graduates during their community service year. The sample size was 71 and the response rate was 56.3%. Results: Professional nurses rated graduates as competent or proficient in almost all skills. The skills and attributes required for the graduate to function effectively in the workplace was rated important to very important. It was also found that there was inadequate structured support to assist graduates in the transition from student to professional nurse. Conclusion: Areas for improvement, based on recommendations from professional nurses, have potential for improving the graduate’s readiness for practice. However, some recommendations are not within the scope of practice of the bachelor of nursing programme. The study highlights the importance of collaboration between educational and practice settings in producing competent nursing graduates ready for the healthcare workforce.