Current pedagogical teaching strategies being used by educators at the KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing campuses across varied subjects and their views regarding innovative methodologies

Abstract

Nursing education has entered a new era as educators are tasked with ensuring that student nurses are adequately prepared with knowledge and skill to care for an increased number of patients, that are being brought on by the escalating burden of disease in South Africa. This preparation requires developing critical thinking nurses who can work amidst a milieu of a shortage of staff and a lack of resources in the South African context. Despite there being a rapid advance in technology and that the type of student nurse has evolved, little is known about the types of teaching methodologies being used by nurse educators to prepare students for real life practice situations. Globally there has been a call for a paradigm shift, from a teacher to a learner centered approach in nursing education. This study evolved to explore what current teaching strategies are being used to teach nursing students and their views on the use of more contemporary creative methodologies. Nurse educators at the Kwazulu Natal College of Nursing campuses were involved in the study through the use of a quantitative cross-sectional descriptive research design. Data was collected by means of a survey questionnaire from a census sample of lecturers, working at the ten campuses of KZNCN offering the R. 425 curriculum. The study found that respondents were still predominantly using didactic teaching methods such as the lecture method and demonstration to teach across all subject areas. They however supported the use of more creative methodologies and requested a need for further training and development to better empower them to utilize web based teaching, portfolios, case studies and a range of other creative teaching strategies in teaching. Recommendations to interweave specific strategies with specific teaching areas were provided as part of the conclusions.