Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov;8(6):3170-3180.
doi: 10.1002/nop2.1030. Epub 2021 Aug 6.

Improving competencies and skills across clinical contexts of care: a qualitative study on Malawian nurses' experiences in an institutional health and training programme

Camilla Grøver Aukrust  1   2 , Patrick Dongosolo Kamalo  3 , Ruth Jane Prince  1 , Johanne Sundby  1 , Chimwemwe Mula  4 , Lucinda Manda-Taylor  5
Affiliations

Improving competencies and skills across clinical contexts of care: a qualitative study on Malawian nurses' experiences in an institutional health and training programme

Camilla Grøver Aukrust et al. Nurs Open. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Aim: To explore what competencies and skills Malawian nurses gained after participating in an institutional health and training programme in Norway and how they viewed these competencies applicable upon return to Malawi. Furthermore, to examine facilitators and challenges experienced on the exchange programme and opportunities and obstacles to make the competencies usable in own local hospital context.

Design: Qualitative study with an explorative design.

Methods: Fourteen interviews and one focus group discussion were conducted at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi, from August to September 2018.

Results: Competencies gained in Norway included clinical skills, teamwork, coordination and strengthened professionalism. The main finding was that the exchange programme was a transformative experience. Upon return to Malawi, the competencies gained on the exchange were helpful. However, the return was characterized by mixed emotions due to the considerable difference between the two clinical settings.

Keywords: competency; education; health education; malawi; neurosurgery; nurse practitioners.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests are disclosed.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Illustrative Presentation of the Findings
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bandlien, S. M. , & Palm, L. (2016). Blantyre‐Oslo neurosurgery program. Global Health Action, 9, 32016. 10.3402/gha.v9.32016 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bentounsi, Z. , & Nazir, A. (2020). Building global surgical workforce capacity through academic partnerships. Journal of Public Health and Emergency, 4, 20. 10.21037/jphe-20-88 - DOI
    1. Bialous, S. A. , & Baltzell, K. (2020). The world needs 6 million more nurses: What are we waiting for? The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103(1), 1–2. 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0451 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carraccio, C. , Wolfsthal, S. D. , Englander, R. , Ferentz, K. , & Martin, C. (2002). Shifting paradigms: From Flexner to competencies. Academic Medicine, 77(5), 361–367. 10.1097/00001888-200205000-00003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cruess, R. L. , Cruess, S. R. , & Steinert, Y. (2018). Medicine as a community of practice: Implications for medical education. Academic Medicine, 93(2), 185–191. 10.1097/ACM.0000000000001826 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources