A model for collaboration between nursing education institutions in the north west province of south Africa
Abstract
The education and training of professional nurses in South Africa is done in colleges administered by
Provincial Departments of Health, and in universities administered by the Department of Higher
Education and Training. The South African Nursing Council (SANC) has introduced new
qualifications that require nursing colleges to transform to Higher Education in order to offer the
qualification of a Bachelor's degree for professional nurses as required in the SANC changes, and in
order to conform with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Act No. 67 of 2008. With the
changing landscape of nursing education, there is a need for all sectors providing nursing education to
work together towards a common goal. This will facilitate better use of teaching and learning
resources. The purpose of this study was to develop a model for collaboration between nursing
education institutions in the North West Province of South Africa. A mixed methods design using the
Convergence Model of triangulation was utilized. The Social Exchange Theory provided a framework
for the study (D' Armour et al., 2005). The basic concepts of the theory were used to structure data
collection and analysis. Ethical clearance was obtained from the university, and permission was
granted by the Provincial Department of Health. Information about the study was given and consent
sought from the stakeholders interviewed and the educators who completed the questionnaire which
was used to collect data from 66 nurse educators. An interview guide was used to interview 15 nurse
education and training stakeholders. Data collection and analysis were done concurrently and results
converged. Themes which emerged from the interviews included identifying collaboration goals,
establishing a conducive environment for the collaboration, maximizing exchange of resources, role
clarification and perceived challenges. Each theme had two or more categories. Quantitative results
showed high agreement percentages (84.13% to 100%) on most of the basic concepts and themes. The
lowest agreement percentage was 53.97% with comments for and against central and decentralized
management of the nurse education institutions in collaboration. A framework for the model of
collaboration was developed using the five stage process of the social exchange theory, and a survey
list with activity aspects guided by Dickoff, James & Wiedenbach (1968: 422-423). The model
indicates a framework, agents, recipients, procedure, dynamics and terminus of the collaboration.
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- Health Sciences [2060]