Does the registered nursing curriculum prepare graduates for rural nursing?Nurses and their supervisors' views.

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to determine factors that would better prepare the graduate nurse for rural nursing. At the same time conditions which make the nurse indifferent to rural areas were identified. Factors or situations which the supervisors and the nurses felt would better prepare the graduate nurses for rural nursing were investigated. The literature reviewed for the study indicated that graduate nurses need exposure to rural nursing during their training and more knowledge and practice in administration. The graduate nurse assumes administrative roles when sent to rural areas to which she only had little exposure while on training. Data were collected from nurses who had worked in rural areas in the previous five years and from the supervisors who were working in rural areas at the time of data collection. Two self-devised questionnaires were used to collect data. The study was descriptive in nature. Data were collected from fifty-five (55) registered nurse and thirty-five (35) nursing supervisors The findings of the study revealed that Registered Nurse Education Curriculum did not equip the graduate nurse to nurse effectively in rural areas. The finding further revealed that graduate nurses lacked administrative skills. The suggestions by the nurses and their supervisors as a means of strengthening the curriculum are presented in the study. The findings from three (3) responses in the nurses questionnaire and fourteen (14) responses from the supervisors questionnaire who indicated lack of exposure of trainee nurses to rural areas supported hypothesis number one which states that "student nurses' lack of exposure to rural areas during their training leads to nurses failure to adapt to rural nursing".