Does improved postgraduate capacity shift the balance of power for nurse specialists in a low-income country: A mixed methods study.

Aim: To explore nurse specialists' experiences of change and influence on practice two years after graduating with a postgraduate degree.

Background: In the absence of further study opportunities for nurses in their own country, a master's degree was introduced to train the first group of nurse specialists in Mozambique.

Design: Within a hybrid evaluation framework an exploratory, sequential mixed methods design was followed.

Self-directed Learning Readiness Is Independent of Teaching and Learning Approach in Undergraduate Nursing Education.

Selecting appropriate teaching and learning strategies within an overarching teaching philosophy is 1 way of influencing nursing students' self-directedness. We conducted research to compare the self-directed learning readiness and learning attributes in different years of study of undergraduate nursing students who are exposed to traditional, lecture-based learning and problem-based learning strategies. We found that readiness for self-directed learning is not dependent on the dominant teaching-learning strategy used in the nursing program.

Advancing nursing scholarship: the Mozambique model.

Background: Despite the importance of Human Resources for Health for the development and functioning of health systems worldwide, many countries continue to be plagued by poor health systems and a lack of adequate health care. Health systems failures may be attributed to both quantitative and qualitative nursing shortages including the lack of advanced skills to lead health initiatives, to conduct research and to educate other nurses. The response by development partners is usually framed around the production of skilled nurses through the processes of up-skilling and scaling-up.

Teaching styles used in Malawian BSN programmes: a survey of nurse educator preferences.

Aim: This paper describes the teaching styles employed by Malawian nurse educators in the four year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programme, according to Grasha's (1996) five teaching styles.

Background: An analysis of the educational processes of undergraduate nurses in Malawi followed anecdotal reports from stakeholders on the low levels of nurses' performance in the workplace. It was postulated that, in most instances, nursing students are exposed to traditional teaching approaches that do not equip them with skills for a demanding and ever-changing healthcare system.