Levels of use of selected components of the comprehensive basic nursing programme

Change in nursing education in South Africa has been characterised by the predominance of the use of power-coercive strategies to effect change. Changes in nursing curricula are legislated through the South African Nursing Council. The Comprehensive Basic Nursing Programme (CBNP) became mandatory for all institutions offering basic professional nurse preparation education programmes in this country in 1985. This was a comparative descriptive study aimed at examining the levels of use of 47 nurse educators at four nursing colleges regarding their behaviours and skills in implementing four selected components of the CBNP. The components of the CBNP which formed the focus for this study were teaching to produce nurses capable of (a) rendering comprehensive health care, (b) nursing holistically, (c) thinking critically, and (d) learning independently. The Levels of Use diagnostic dimension of the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) developed by the CBAM staff (Hall & Hord, 1987; Hall & Loucks, 1977, Hord, 1987; Loucks, Newlove, & Hall, 1975) was used as a guideline for designing the interview schedules for each of the four components of the CBNP. Data were collected by means of interviews using focused interview schedules designed by the researcher. A large number of nurse educators were rated at or below mechanical Level of Use on teaching for CHC (n = 26), and critical thinking (n = 22). More than half the nurse educators interviewed reported that they were comfortable with their behaviours and skills concerning teaching for holistic nursing and developing independence in learning.