The initiation process for nursing students in obstetrics competencies

Abstract

Objective: To understand the formative process experienced by students majoring in nursing and obstetrics (LEO, Licenciado en Enfermería y Obstetricia ) to begin their training in real scenarios.

Method: Qualitative study from the perspective of grounded theory, conducted interviews with students who had completed the course on Obstetrics I, assigned to different fields of practice in hospitals in Mexico city and surrounding areas. data was analyzed using the Altas.ti ® program; open coding, Axial and Constant Comparison Method. Four main categories were created as well as several subcategories. The hospital as a place for learning, supervised practice, teaching mediation and the fact of being an obstetrics nurse.

Results: Students begin this training process with fear and uncertainty, but eventually gain confidence trough practice facing real situations that require the use of their prior knowledge and skills. The community of practice share knowledge and experience, living an atmosphere of secondary socialization and negotiation in order to gain acceptance and an opportunity to participate in “being-in-labor” practices and helping delivering babies. The mediation of the clinical trainer in obstetrics lessens, compared to their intervention in the classroom and laboratory. The Nurse in Obstetrics does not have a strong presence in hospitals yet, so Obstetricians and Maternal-Infant Nurses appear as references.

Conclusions: When the whole process is finally understood, the importance of mentoring the practice scenarios and communication with the community of practice can be restated. Developing tools to clarify qualitatively different levels of mastery of these competences is necessary to provide a gradual growth in students’ knowledge.