Knowledge and skills of nurse educators regarding curriculum development in nursing education institutions in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Background: In South Africa, nurse educators are trained at various higher education Institutions. The indispensable knowledge and skills of nurse educators should enable the development of a curriculum. Failure to demonstrate knowledge and skills may result in an unachievable curriculum that will impact negatively on the achievement of nursing qualifications. Purpose: To assess the knowledge and skills of nurse educators regarding curriculum development in nursing education institutions in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Methodology: A non-experimental, descriptive, quantitative study was conducted. Non-probability stratified random sampling was used to select respondents. A web-based self-administered questionnaire was shared with 320 Gauteng Province nurse educators and 82 (25.6%) responded. Collected data was analysed using the International Business Machine for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 28. The exploratory factor analysis, the Cronbach alpha together with the Spearman’s rho, the Independent-Samples, the Kruskal-Mann-Whitney U test; and the Kruskal-Wallis tests were done. Findings: The Gauteng Province nurse educators, who responded to the study, demonstrated that the feeling of inadequate training, the lack of confidence in proper communication and presentation skills, the development of study modules, the review skills, and the knowledge of managing finances and assets limited them. Conclusion and recommendations: Not all nurse educators in the Gauteng Province have the necessary knowledge and skills to develop curricula. The training institutions should prepare nurse educators adequately for their role as the development of curriculum depends on the knowledge and skills of the developers.