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Ga-Rankuwa Nursing College host Research Day
Ga-Rankuwa Nursing College hosted a successful Research Day at the Medunsa on 19 March, North of Pretoria. Key stakeholders from the nursing profession graced the event with their presence at the prestigious event, and so were student nurses from the institution.
More than 200 research enthusiasts attended the event, which included lecturers, researchers, academics, representatives from professional organisations and guests. The college principal, Mrs Alida Maringa said the institution has a long-held dream: to embark on research as a way of assessing the effectiveness of the products that the college offers to students in the form of the learning programme. “We wish to maintain this event,” she said.
The college is in the process of embarking on a unique research of its own where it will look at the output of its product in the workplace, with the aim of assessing the aspects where nurses (who come from the college) in the workplace may not have been perfect in.
Post-basic nursing students and employees of the college presented their research on a number of issues in the clinical set-up. These included a study by Mrs Onicca Letswalo, lecturer at the college and Post Masters student at the University of Pretoria. She presented a study on the perceptions of student nurses regarding accompaniment in the clinical environment, where the findings included, among others, disregard of student status in the clinical setting, hostile clinical environment, orientation not adequately done, hospital protocols not being adhered to, as well as ambiguity with regards to the roles that professional nurses play in imparting knowledge on student nurses in the clinical environment.
Other research studies included association of low weight on newborns and hypertension during pregnancy; the experience of Pupil Enrolled Nurses, regarding initial clinical exposure in the operating theatre in a selected hospital in Gauteng Province; and Support for Caregivers during Pueperium to enhance the PMTCT programme.
Guest speaker at the event and post-graduate research supervisor, Lindiwe Madlalane, urged all nursing students to embark on research as it informs actions that will lead to improvement of the clinical environment for nurses.
“All nurses should participate in research. But in one way or another, we all take part in research. If you ask questions and try to get a satisfactory answer, that is research,” she said. She said research results can be translated into effective global health programmes, such as immunization programmes, TB treatment regime from the WHO.
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