Knowledge, perceptions and practices of Nursing Faculty on Mentorship at Kabale University School of Medicine

Abstract

Background: There has been a global advocacy for mentorship as one of the vital approaches to train and develop young scientists in attempt to address shortage of nursing faculty. Mentorship is defined as a process in which a more experienced person assists a less experienced person through their career growth and progression. Mentorship has also been identified as part of the models developed to increase evidence based practice, an approach that improves patient outcomes. Despite several studies on mentorship none has been conducted at Kabale University School of Medicine looking at Knowledge, perceptions and practices of nursing faculty towards mentorship. Objective: The main objective of this study was to explore knowledge, perceptions and practices of nursing faculty on mentorship at Kabale University School of Medicine. Methodology: A qualitative exploratory study design was used. The study was conducted at Kabale University School of Medicine, a relatively new university in South West Uganda. The study participants comprised of nursing officers attached to Kabale teaching hospital and nursing lecturers attached to the university, all of whom participated in teaching and mentoring of nursing students. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. Data was collected using in-depth individual interviews. In total, twenty-one participants were interviewed who included sixteen (16) nursing officers and five (5) nurse lecturers. Thematic analysis was employed using a deductive approach for analyzing the interview data. Results: A total of twenty-one (21) interviews were conducted. The three over-arching themes included: 1) Knowledge on mentorship. 2) Practices of mentorship, and 3) Perceptions towards mentorship.. The participants had knowledge on mentorship, positive attitude towards mentorship and practiced relative mentorship. It was coined that mentorship was typically aimed at passing on knowledge and skills from experienced but qualified nursing personnel already in practice. The study findings further revealed that the mentorship process helped mentees to transform as well as translate theoretical knowledge that has been learnt in class into actual hands-on practice that they appreciate as they pursue to better their nursing skills while on clinical placements. Conclusion: From this study, it was discovered that nursing faculty had some knowledge on mentorship and their perception towards mentorship was positive. However, the real practice of mentorship at the institution was still lacking and plausible means are needed to further improve on the knowledge and practices to operationalize the mentorship processes among the nursing faculty