Title: Perception of Nursing Students of Basic Sciences Courses in King Saud Bin Abdul Aziz University for Health Sciences
Abstract:
Background:
There were enormous research and discussion done to assess whether the nursing curriculum is well defined, modeled to adequately equip students with the bioscience knowledge they require for efficient clinical practice. In Saudi Arabia, bioscience subjects are generally taught by specialists, in a common department external to the nursing department. The bioscience subjects in pre-registration nursing programs are taught mainly within the common basic science program during the first 18 months of the nursing program, followed by specialist clinical nursing components. The study is designed to investigate the perceptions that nursing students and nursing graduates in the College of Nursing at King Saud Bin Abdul-Aziz university for Health Science have in relation to bioscience subjects offered in the nursing curriculum and its integration to nursing practice
Design
The study employed a cross-sectional design using online survey.
Methods
The survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia involving (i) second year (ii) third year and (iii) fourth year nursing students as well as (iv) nursing graduates. Participants were asked to respond to a range of questions around their perception of bioscience subjects. A total of 167 participants were in the study (N=167) with a response rate of 46.7%.
Results
Findings indicated that 51% of the participants perceived that an understanding of bioscience subjects forms the foundation of nursing practice. While only 37% were comfortable with the content and detail taught in bioscience subjects; 44% thought that they would prefer to have a better knowledge of bioscience than what they have at present and 41% thought with their current knowledge of bioscience they will be able to explain the biologic basis of nursing decisions. The respondents were in agreement that bioscience subjects were difficult and that they spent more time studying bioscience subjects than nursing subjects 41% and 52 % respectively. Only 36% of participants thought that the learning strategies used in bioscience subjects were efficient and 33% indicated that nursing lecturers rather than bioscience lecturers should be teaching the bioscience subjects. Further, 51% stated that it would assist their understanding of bioscience subjects if nursing lecturers related more to bioscience when teaching nursing courses. In regards to the support offered by the University to facilitate the learning process of biosciences subjects only 33% of respondents were in agreement that it was adequate.
Conclusion
Existing consensus clearly values the delivery of bioscience subjects as an initial and ongoing priority of learning throughout the undergraduate nursing program.
Relevance to practice
Improving the ways in which students learn bioscience subjects will impact on nursing practice, with the potential to improve patient care.
