New nurses and community maternal care education: A qualitative study

There is ongoing focus in Indonesia to lower the maternal mortality rate. One strategy has been increasing numbers of health care practitioners, including nurses, in the community. While much is known about transition experiences of new registered nurses, little is known about the adequacy of educational preparation of new nurses in Indonesia to provide maternal care in community settings. This qualitative descriptive study explored new diploma prepared nurses' perceptions of their educational preparation for providing community maternal care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five new nurses working in community health care centres in Gowa District, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Three key themes emerged: Practice context, Professional role delineation, and Education programs. Nurses reported encountering a range of aspects of maternal care, and community expectations of their skills and knowledge. These were particularly necessary in rural areas. Educational preparation was found to be insufficient for the activities that graduates were engaged in. There is a need for more research into maternal care content in undergraduate nursing programs in Indonesia to ensure optimal maternal care in community settings.