Nursing student and faculty competency improvement through a nurse-bridging program in Cambodia

Abstract

Background: An adequate number of high-quality nurses are a key factor for superior patient outcomes. However, in 2015, Cambodia reported only 52 nurses with bachelor's degrees, three with master's degrees, and one with a doctorate. The fast track to getting a highly educated nursing workforce requires providing a bridging program for associate's degree nurses to achieve baccalaureate degrees. Objectives: To assess improvement in the competency of nursing students and faculty members through a program that prepares associate's degree nurses to obtain bachelor's degrees in Cambodia. Design: Mixed methods. Setting: Educational institutes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Participants: A total of 45 Cambodian nursing students participated in the Cambodian nurse-bridging program and 12 Cambodian faculty members served as co-teachers. Methods: We conducted three surveys to compare the competence of nursing students and faculty members before, during, and after the bridging program. We conducted focus-group interviews to support the qualitative results and explored changes in student and faculty competencies after the program. Results: Quantitative analysis revealed significant improvements in students' nursing competency (p < .001), critical thinking (p < .001), and research competency (p < .001) and faculty members' teaching competency (p < .001) and research competency (p < .001) after the program. Through qualitative analysis, students showed improvement in physical assessment, patient communication, critical thinking, evidence-based nursing, and research competency. Faculty members indicated they had experienced new teaching strategies and subjects, gained increased confidence in teaching, and even though research competency had been improved, more training was required. Conclusions: This study provides evidence to support the effectiveness of higher nurse education in developing countries, and illustrates an opportunity to produce high-quality human resources in nursing. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd