Graduate Nurses’ Perception of The Undergraduate Nursing Education in Nigeria: CaseStudy of Rivers State

Nursing education has undergone a transformation from being Diploma- based to Degree- based in the past few decades. This change has led to a shift from training to education in the preparation of the nurse accompanied by paradigm shift from school education to university education in nursing. This study assessed graduate nurses’ perception of the undergraduate nursing education in Nigeria: Case study of Rivers State. Descriptive survey design was adopted in carrying out this research. The study was steered using four objectives of the study and four research questions. The population of the study was 200 graduate nurses in University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital, (UPTH), with a sample size of 126 which was randomly selected. The instrument for data collection was a self -structured questionnaire with a reliability of 0.72. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions. The results of the study revealed among others that 106 (84.1%) of respondents perceived that their institutions adequately prepared them to practice nursing in work areas. They have adequate level of self-confidence in caring for patients without supervision, M=3.8, SD= 0.33. Study concludes that respondents had good perception of the undergraduate nursing education. Recommendations includes that nurses should practice to the full potential of their education to benchmark the global standard.