Clinical teaching of university-degree nursing students: are the nurses in practice in Uganda ready?

Background: Nurses with degree qualifications offer better nursing care compared to nurses prepared at lower levels. University based nursing degrees have been sanctioned as entry into professional nursing and several low-resource states have introduced university based nursing degrees. The clinical teaching of students enrolled in such degrees is challenged, as most nurses in practice do not have university degrees and may not have the necessary skills to facilitate clinical learning as expected at degree level. A university in Uganda established a bachelor's degree in Nursing program and was expecting to use nurses in practice at a teaching hospital for the clinical teaching of university-degree nursing students. This study reports on the perceptions of the nurses in practice regarding their readiness for the clinical teaching of undergraduate nursing students. Methods: A qualitative descriptive research study was conducted among 33 conveniently sampled nurses from Arua Regional Referral Hospital (ARRH) who had been supervising Diploma and/or Certificate in Nursing students. Five focus group discussions and three informant interviews were used to generate the data. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using an inductive approach through thematic analysis. Results: The nurses in practice perceived themselves as ready for clinical teaching of undergraduate nursing students. Three themes emerged namely; "Willingness to teach undergraduate students" "Perceived attributes of undergraduate students", and "The clinical practice environment". Conclusion: The nurses in practice need support in the execution of the clinical teaching role of university-degree nursing students. The nature of supports would include, continuing professional development specific to clinical teaching, engaging the educators in the clinical environment, positively engaging power gradients and address insecurities among the nurses and the students. Students in these programmes should be exposed to the clinical environment earlier within the programme, and be exposed to interprofessional and trans-professional education.