Clinical preceptorship in Ghana in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: an interventional study.

Background: Innovations in clinical nursing education are critical in enhancing the experiences of students, especially in the era of coronavirus pandemic. This study aimed at investigating nurse preceptors' perceptions of use, intention to use and self-efficacy towards digital technology in preceptorship in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana.

Methods: A concurrent type of mixed-methods design with a non-randomised interventional study using three-phase multi-methods technique was conducted among nurse preceptors in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region of Ghana. Forty-five nurse preceptors participated in a pre and post training intervention while seven were purposively selected for the qualitative interview. Complimentarity method of triangulation was used in the analysis. The quantitative data were analysed with STATA version 16 and presented using frequencies, percentages, means with standard deviations and McNemar's test while qualitative data were analysed using the six steps approach to qualitative data analysis by Braun and Clarke.

Results: Perceived usefulness statement "using technology will improve clinical teaching" increased from 19 (42.22%) at baseline to 44 (97.78%) post intervention. Perceived ease of using technology statement "I would find it easy to get this technology to do what I want it to do" also increased from 36 (80.00%) to 41 (91.11%) post intervention. Self-efficacy increased from 40 (88.89%) to 43 (95.56%) after the intervention. There was a statistically significant difference between pre-training and post-training scores regarding tablet (p = 0.016) and experience with online library resources (p = 0.039). The qualitative results yielded three themes, namely: strengths of using technology; constraints in the learning environment; and future of technological approach to clinical teaching.

Conclusions: The training intervention improved participants intentions, self-efficacy, perceived use and perceived ease of use of technology. However, there are constraints in the clinical learning environment including students and preceptor-related factors, and institutional factors that needs to be addressed as part of efforts to implement technology in clinical teaching in this era of COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.