Nurses and challenges faced as clinical educators: a survey of a group of nurses in Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Clinical teaching is an important component of clinical education. In nursing, clinical teaching is ensured by clinical nurse educators (CNEs). This study aimed at describing the major challenges faced by CNEs in Cameroon. METHODS: In a qualitative study, supplemented with quantitative methods, CNEs were enrolled from three health districts to represent their frequency in Cameroon’s health delivery system. RESULTS: A total of 56 CNEs participated in the study, of whom, as many as 58.9% acknowledged always facing challenges in clinical teaching and supervision. The major challenges identified were the lack of opportunities to update knowledge and skills, students’ lack of preparedness and the CNEs not being prepared for clinical teaching. CNEs attributed these challenges in major part to the lack of incentives and poor health policies. CONCLUSION: CNEs in Cameroon do indeed face major challenges which are of diverse origins and could adversely affect teaching in clinical setting

The orchestration of a sustainable development agenda in the European Higher Education Area

Purpose: This article asks how the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has orchestrated a sustainable development (SD) agenda in its international policy since 2020. Design/methodology/approach: By drawing on theoretical ideas around policy orchestration as a key UN governing strategy and applying them to the analysis of the progression of the SD agenda in the EHEA, the article conducts a thematic analysis of six recent key EHEA international policy documents and 19 interviews with key Bologna stakeholders in France, Germany and Italy. Findings: The resultant analysis uncovers three overarching key themes that show: (1) the EHEA has the capacity to mitigate pitfalls in the UN’s SD agenda; (2) some weaknesses of the UN’s orchestration of SD are translated into weaknesses in the EHEA’s formulation of its SD agenda; and (3) the further development of an SD agenda as an essential direction of EHEA’s work. The article then goes on to discuss how EHEA policies only mention SD discourse, omit concrete plans for its implementation, and keep the very meaning of SD ambiguous throughout international policy documents. Originality: We offer three original recommendations that the EHEA should adopt in an attempt to mitigate the issues raised in the run-up to its 2030 deadline for implementing its policies: the EHEA should develop an explicit definition of SD; recognise the Euro-centredness of EHEA policies and open them up to other voices; and cite academic research when developing policy documents

Determinants of woody encroachment and cover in African savannas

Savanna ecosystems are an integral part of the African landscape and sustain the livelihoods of millions of people. Woody encroachment in savannas is a widespread phenomenon but its causes are widely debated. We review the extensive literature on woody encroachment to help improve understanding of the possible causes and to highlight where and how future scientific efforts to fully understand these causes should be focused. Rainfall is the most important determinant of maximum woody cover across Africa, but fire and herbivory interact to reduce woody cover below the maximum at many locations. We postulate that woody encroachment is most likely driven by CO2 enrichment and propose a two-system conceptual framework, whereby mechanisms of woody encroachment differ depending on whether the savanna is a wet or dry system. In dry savannas, the increased water-use efficiency in plants relaxes precipitation-driven constraints and increases woody growth. In wet savannas, the increase of carbon allocation to tree roots results in faster recovery rates after disturbance and a greater likelihood of reaching sexual maturity. Our proposed framework can be tested using a mixture of experimental and earth observational techniques. At a local level, changes in precipitation, burning regimes or herbivory could be driving woody encroachment, but are unlikely to be the explanation of this continent-wide phenomenon

Constructed world culture instruments for European Higher Education Area global diffusion

Global educational reforms and policy trends suggest a growing convergence in educational systems worldwide, often attributed to the culturally embedded nature of nation-states and world-society models. However, in this article, we argue that these explanations are insufficient to fully account for the global diffusion of certain policies, as they often overlook the influential role of powerful actors in global policy dissemination. We analyse the European Bologna Process (BP) as a global case, highlighting instruments devised by the EHEA actors to actively promote BP reforms and philosophies worldwide. Drawing on World Culture Theory and analysing 25 BP documents, we argue that education policy diffusion occurs because of a well-coordinated structure and established instruments by policy actors for global policy dissemination

Policy diffusion and transfer of the Bologna Process in Africa’s national, sub-regional and regional contexts

This article traces the process of diffusion and transfer of the European Bologna Process reforms in Africa's national, sub-regional and regional contexts and examines factors that drive these processes. Considering that African countries are not official signatories but are aligning their systems of education to the BP, and in the absence of a coordinated effort and the use of digital technology to produce and present data that documents and maps out progress, tracing the diffusion process in this context is challenging, which is the reason for limited research in this area. Based on a review of existing literature, this article argues that in Africa, the dissemination and transfer of BP-related reforms started as individual projects by national governments as early as 2000 before metamorphosing into sub-regional and regional initiatives. The article identifies economic, political and discursive factors as well as the selective and silent processes that shaped Bologna transfer at these different levels in Africa