Nurse Educators’ Views on the Implementation of Simulation-based Education in Lesotho

Abstract

The adoption of a competency-based curriculum has necessitated the shift of simulation-based education to the centre stage rather than being an add-on in the nursing education programme. Since the adoption of a competency-based nursing curriculum in Lesotho in 2014, simulation-based learning has been one of the policy areas and is implemented in all private nursing education institutions. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe nurse educators’ views on the implementation of simulation-based education by nursing education institutions in Lesotho. A qualitative study, guided by the grounded theory approach, was conducted in the four private nursing education institutions in Lesotho. Participants, who included nurse educators (24), were purposively selected. Focused group discussions were used to collect data, and theoretical sampling was also employed as one of the sampling methods. Data were collected from 25 August 2020 to 5 January 2021. The data were analysed following Corbin and Strauss’s grounded theory approach, which includes open and axial coding. Three categories emerged: 1) learning resources; 2) learning environment; and 3) views on the delivery of simulation-based education. Participants expressed various views on teaching and learning resources that are used for simulation teaching, how learning is structured in the simulation laboratories to suit their context and diverse positive and negative views on the delivery of simulation-based education. Limited numbers of high-fidelity mannikins and simulation equipment do not prevent institutions from implementing simulation-based education. Before student placement in the real clinical setting, in order to bridge the theory-practice gap, students are placed in the simulation laboratory.