Clinical learning environment of nursing and midwifery students in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Data on student experience of the clinical learning environment in Ghana are scarce. We therefore aimed to assess students' evaluation of the clinical learning environment and the factors that influence their learning experience. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of 225 undergraduate nursing and midwifery students. We used the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision + Nurse Teacher (CLES +T) evaluation scale to assess students' experience of their clinical placement. The association between student demographic characteristics and clinical placement experience was determined using t-test or ANOVA. RESULTS: Most of the sampled students were Nurses (67%) and in the third year of training (81%). More students received supervision from a nurse (57%) during clinical placement and team supervision (67%) was the most common during clinical placement. Nursing students were more likely to rate their clinical experience better than midwifery students (p=0.002). Students who had increased contact with private supervisors were also more likely to rate their experience higher (p=0.002). Clinical experience was also rated higher by students who received successful supervision compared to those who had unsuccessful or team supervision (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Team supervision is high in health facilities where students undertake clinical placement in Ghana. Frequent contact with private supervisor and successful supervision are associated with better rating of clinical experience among Ghanaian undergraduate nursing and midwifery students

Factors Influencing Male Involvement in Antenatal Care in the Kassena Nankana Municipal in the Upper East Region, Ghana

Background: Globally, male involvement in antenatal care remains a challenge to the effective utilization of maternal health services. Male involvement is considered to be a useful tool that is capable of improving the health outcome of mothers and their children. However, matters relating to antenatal care have often been considered on a gender basis. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the factors that influence male partner involvement in antenatal care services. Methods: A community-based crosssectional study was conducted among 420 men whose partners were pregnant or had delivered within twelve months preceding the study using multiple sampling procedures. Pearson Chi-Square and Fisher’s exact test were conducted to establish an association between dependent and independent variables after which multiple logistic regression was conducted. P-values of < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval were considered significant. Data were analyzed using STATA version 13.1. Results: The level of male involvement in antenatal care was high (67.2%). About 71.9% accompanied their partners to antenatal clinics at one point during the pregnancy period. Out of this, 45.7% of themdid so four or more times, 35.7% went two to three times, while 18.6% went only once. Factors such as staff attitude, time spent at the clinics, age, educational level, monthly income level, living with a partner during pregnancy, distance to the clinic, and community acceptability were all statistically significant to male involvement. Conclusion: The level of male involvement was high and considered above average. There is the need to develop interventions that will diffuse the existing socio-cultural perceptions and improve staff attitudes to achieve higher male involvement in antenatal care