Facilitators and challenges experienced by first-year nursing students at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa, when conducting home visits

Abstract

Background. To be socially responsible, tertiary education institutions collaborate with local communities. Community engagement is a teaching and learning strategy that enhances the learning experiences of students while interacting with community members. Assessing a family at home is a curriculum task that strengthens a primary healthcare approach to nursing education.

Objectives. To explore and describe facilitators and challenges experienced by first-year nursing students regarding family assessment during home visits.

Methods. An explorative, descriptive, qualitative research approach was used. Four focus group discussions with 6 participants in each group were conducted with purposively selected first-year nursing students. Data were analysed according to Tesch’s method.

Results. Participants (N=24) were allocated to the focus group discussions. Facilitators of learning included relevant community and home settings, which provided diversity in learning opportunities. Challenges included absence of a formal orientation to the learning opportunity, language barriers and lack of basic apparatus.

Conclusion. Participants reported facilitators and challenges of family health assessment and health education. The first step should be to build on the facilitators and address the challenges in an action research project.