Nurse educators' experience of studying while working full-time at a public nursing education institution in South Africa: a focus group study.

backgroundThe expectations that nurse educators should continue to engage in postgraduate studies remain high. This is also true in South Africa, where legislation namely the National Policy on Nursing Education and Training and the South African Nursing Council guidelines for programme implementation requires nurse educators to have research experience through their own research and/or studies toward higher education qualifications. This prompts nurse educators to pursue postgraduate studies to ensure that the public nursing education institution they are employed at obtains and/or maintains higher education status. This places pressure on nurse educators to study while working. Studying while working full-time puts strain on their coping mechanisms. Exploring and describing the experience of nurse educators of studying while working full-time is important so that insight can be gained into how to offer support.

methodsAn explorative and descriptive qualitative design was followed. Purposive sampling technique was used to select nurse educators who are studying while working full-time. Forty-three nurse educators participated in the study. Six unstructured focus group discussions were conducted at the six campuses of the public Nursing Education Institution in Gauteng, South Africa. Content analysis was done through the eight-step conventional qualitative content analysis method.

resultsEight main themes and two sub-themes emerged under two categories. Category 1 (negative aspects) included being required to participate in a "balancing act", high workloads and exhaustion, negative outcomes and impact, inadequate support systems and organizational problems in the educational system. The systemic problems included the role of nursing education institution policies and practices which hinder nurse educators' ability to study, particularly that of leave allocation, workload management and lack of support. It also included the influence of internal and external pressures on nurse educators' choice to study, looking at issues of autonomy and control. Category 2 (positive aspects) included opportunities created for development, improved confidence and competence, and building networks and relationships.

conclusionsThe focus of this study was to get a deeper understanding of the experiences of nurse educators who are studying while working full-time. The results create awareness of their experiences in developing structured support systems and in reviewing policies that will improve institutional processes. This study will significantly contribute to the body of knowledge regarding supporting nurse educators. Future research could focus on developing guidelines to support nurse educators who are studying while working full-time. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.