1. ANEC 2015 Annual Nursing Education Conference
NURSING STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF BIOSCIENCE AND PERCEPTIONS OF RELEVANCE: PERSPECTIVES
FROM A DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Betsy Rafferty* MSc, Una Kyriacos†, PhD
* Western Cape College of Nursing, †University of Cape Town, South Africa.
2 - 4 September 2015 Olive Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa
Abstract A questionnaire was administered to 76 of 214 (35.5%) fourth year nursing students at a college in Cape Town, to assess their 1) depth of understanding of bioscience, 2) perceptions of relevance of bioscience to practice and 3) perceptions of effectiveness of teaching strategies. Most respondents considered anatomy, physiology and pharmacology relevant for practice but not microbiology, biophysics and biochemistry. Respondents’ self-reported adequate knowledge of bioscience was not supported by data that revealed a ‘task’ approach to practice in terms of Akinsanya’s bionursing model.
Results: understanding & relevance
Introduction
Methods & Procedures
Depth of understanding biosciences:
Nursing is a practice discipline and nurses have a responsibility to develop clinical scholarship (Mannix et al., 2013). The biological subjects in a nursing curriculum help students to relate their knowledge to patients with disease patterns in clinical settings (Durai et al., 2012).
To ensure patient safety (Andrew & Mansour, 2014) nurses need a good foundational knowledge of bioscience. Registered nurses’ knowledge and application of the physical sciences in their practice is reported (Van Wissen & McBride-Henry, 2010), less so for student nurses (McVicar et al., 2014).
The application of biosciences knowledge in clinical situations is reportedly unstructured, haphazard, difficult and anxiety provoking (Johnston, 2010) which might account for nurses’ difficulty understanding the biosciences and applying this knowledge in practice.
Bioscience instruction requires a coherent, structured approach and effective use of multimedia and e-learning to enhance understanding (Sloan et al., 2006).
A three-part self-administered survey questionnaire adapted with permission from a published study (Kyriacos et al., 2005), was employed: Part 1 (demographic data, understanding bioscience/perceptions of relevance and effective teaching strategies), Part 2 (description of a critical incident) and Part 3 (picture interpretation).
Setting:
In May 2013 the study was conducted at a nursing college offering a 4-year Diploma programme for registration as a Nurse (general, psychiatric, community) and Midwife. English is the language of instruction.
Sampling:
A sample of 136 was needed.
Data collection:
Two experts evaluated the index of content validity (CVI) of each item using a 4-point ordinal rating scale. No changes were required. Convenience, nonprobability sampling was used.
Although the majority of respondents reported having adequate bioscience knowledge they felt they specifically needed more knowledge ranging from 69.7% (53/76) for Biophysics to 78.9% (60/73) for Pharmacology (Fig. 1). The differences for each subject reached statistical significance (P<0.001).
Figure 1. Frequency distributions of self-reported bioscience knowledge deficits
Perceptions of relevance of bioscience to practice
Most respondents (n=249) considered bioscience knowledge essential for practice, but less than 50% felt that this applied to microbiology, biophysics and biochemistry (Figure 2). Four bioscience subjects were considered not relevant to practice by a few respondents: microbiology (n=4, 5.3%), biophysics (n=16, 21.1%), biochemistry (n=14, 18.4%) and pharmacology (n=3, 3.9%). For all subjects, differences reached statistical significance (P<0.001).
Results
Demographic data:
Data for age were not normally distributed (Kolmogorov-Smirnov P<0.001). Of 75 respondents, 38 (50%) had a range of previous work experience and two (2.6%) respondents had previous nursing experience.
Table 1: Age distribution of respondents (n=75/76)†
Aim of the study:
The primary aim of the study was to describe final year nursing students’ 1) depth of understanding of bioscience, 2) perceptions of relevance of bioscience to practice and 3) perceptions of effectiveness of teaching strategies. Sub-objectives included respondents’ descriptions of clinical scenarios where knowledge of bioscience influenced their interventions.
Only 1) and 2) are reported on here.
Age distribution
Number (%)
20-25 years
26-30 years
31-35 years
>36 years
42 (56)
16 (21.3)
11 (14.7)
6 (8)
Median IQR 7
Minimum-maximum: 20-38
† Data missing in one case
IQR = interquartile range
References
Figure 2. Frequency distributions of perceptions of relevance of bioscience to practice
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Durai, R.P.R., Hassan, H., Abdullah, N.A., Panduragan, S.L., Mat, S., An exploration of issues relating to medical science subjects: nursing students’ perception and experience in University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 60,
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Kyriacos, U., Jordan, S. & van den Heever, J., The biological sciences in nursing: a developing country perspective. Journal of Advanced Nursing 52(1),
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Sloan, D., Stratford, J., Gregor, P., Using multimedia to enhance the accessibility of the learning environment for disabled students: reflections from the skills for access project ALT-J. Research in Learning Technology 14 (1),
Van Wissen, K., McBride-Henry, K., Building confidence: an exploration of nurses undertaking a postgraduate biological science course. Contemporary Nurse 35 (1),
Most respondents considered anatomy, physiology and pharmacology relevant for practice but not microbiology, biophysics and biochemistry. Self- reported adequate knowledge was inflated. A practice model is needed to guide the biosciences curriculum.
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the respondents who contributed to the development of new knowledge.