Experiences of Nurse Academics Regarding Nursing Students Research Supervision: A Qualitative Study

Background: Research project supervision has become part and parcel of a university teacher’s role amidst other job roles, thereby increasing their workload and stress levels. Consequently, nurse academics have been saddled with the responsibility to ensure that they graduate students who have mastered the art of writing research projects proficiently. Thus, it is important to understand the key aspects of their experiences during research supervision. Aim: This study explored the experiences of nurse academics as regards supervising nursing students research projects. Methods: Phenomenological approach which is a qualitative research method was used in the study. The population of the study comprised nurse academics from universities in Southeast Nigeria who have supervised students research work in the last two years and are currently supervising nursing students research work. The study was conducted with 19 lecturers who agreed to participate voluntary via in-depth interviews. Results: The themes emerging as a result of the interviews conducted were “research problem formulation is overtly poor”, “unsatisfied about students’ output” and “variable but often large supervisees”. In the study most participants stated that students’ nurses do not know how to formulate research problems and how to present different components of their research proposals. There has also been a disproportion between students’ ratio to staff ratio leading to poor supervision. Conclusion: The study revealed that it is necessary to develop students research writing skills by introducing adequate trainings. Institutional heads should recruit more academics to match the yearly increase in enrolment of students to prevent burnout for lecturers. Keywords: Nurse Academics, Research Supervision, Experiences, Nursing Students