Gause Gopolang, Sehularo Leepile Alfred, Matsipane Molekodi Jacob
NuMIQ Research Focus Area, Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
BMC Nurs. 2024 Apr 24;23(1):276. doi: 10.1186/s12912-024-01938-5.
The undergraduate first year of a nursing program is regarded as a difficult and challenging part of the nursing course, due to the variation experienced in the transition from basic to higher education compared to other first-year courses. This causes stress, which could contribute to students' lack of coping with the transition to the university. These challenges call for coping strategies to ensure resilience among this cohort of undergraduate nursing students.
An exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was adopted to assess the coping mechanisms used by first-year nursing students during transition from basic to higher education. Data was gathered through four online focus group discussions which were conducted using the Microsoft Teams app, with participants purposefully selected from the two campuses where the study was conducted. The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Data was analysed by the researcher and the co-coder using qualitative content data analysis.
Three categories emerged from the data: experiences of transition from basic to higher education, coping with transition from basic to higher education, and recommendations for coping with transition from basic to higher education. Participants expressed that they use the following six coping strategies during the transition from basic to higher education: adaptive coping, appraisal-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, social coping, and seeking help from mentors.
Transition from basic to higher education is challenging for undergraduate first-year nursing students. The study suggests that there is a need to standardize and contextualize the support measures for undergraduate first-year nursing students during their transition from basic to higher education in order to enhance their ability to cope.
护理专业本科一年级被视为护理课程中困难且具有挑战性的阶段，因为与其他一年级课程相比，从基础教育向高等教育过渡时会经历各种变化。这会导致压力，进而可能使学生难以应对向大学的过渡。这些挑战需要应对策略来确保本科护理专业学生群体具备适应能力。
采用探索性描述性定性研究设计，以评估本科一年级护理专业学生在从基础教育向高等教育过渡期间所采用的应对机制。通过使用Microsoft Teams应用程序进行的四次在线焦点小组讨论收集数据，参与者是从开展研究的两个校区中有目的地挑选出来的。焦点小组讨论进行了录音，并逐字转录以供分析。研究人员和共同编码员使用定性内容数据分析方法对数据进行了分析。
数据归纳出三个类别：从基础教育向高等教育过渡的经历、应对从基础教育向高等教育的过渡、应对从基础教育向高等教育过渡的建议。参与者表示，在从基础教育向高等教育过渡期间，他们采用了以下六种应对策略：适应性应对、专注于评估的应对、专注于情绪的应对、专注于问题的应对、社交应对以及向导师寻求帮助。
从基础教育向高等教育的过渡对本科一年级护理专业学生来说具有挑战性。该研究表明，有必要在本科一年级护理专业学生从基础教育向高等教育过渡期间，对支持措施进行标准化并使其符合实际情况，以增强他们的应对能力。
