Perceptions of Employability Skills of Newly Qualified Nursing Graduates from the University of Namibia

The period of transition from being a student nurse to a professional nurse remains the most traumatic and stressful period for newly qualified nursing graduates. These graduates are expected to adapt to the working environment while they are still under scrutiny to see whether they have acquired sufficient knowledge, skills and confidence to practise safe nursing care. This study aimed to determine and describe the perceptions of employers regarding the employability skills of newly qualified nursing graduates from the School of Nursing at the University of Namibia. A total of 168 nursing service managers from four public hospitals and two private hospitals were invited to participate in the study during 2019. Altogether 114 (68%) participants completed a self-administered questionnaire. The findings of this study showed a relatively low rating of 37 (32.5%) participants who had observed weak performance in the skills of newly qualified nursing graduates regarding invasive procedures and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). These skills were mostly rated as poor, fair or average. There was no association between observing poor skills with invasive procedures and the number of employees' years of experience, chi(2) (24)>= 24.070, p=0.239. Findings in this study call for well-articulated plans from nurse educators and faculty members to implement immediate actions to address the issues highlighted in this study.