First year learner nurses' perceptions of learning motivation in self-directed learning in a simulated skills laboratory at a higher education institution

Abstract

Employing self-directed learning (SDL) methodologies, that are associated with improvement in the affective and psychomotor domains, could be advantageous to learner nurses. Despite the efforts to expose students to SDL in a school of nursing in the Western Cape, South Africa, the challenge remains the students’ lack of self-motivation to SDL during clinical activities in the simulated skills laboratory. This article focuses on first year learner nurses’ perceptions of learning motivation (as part of a larger study) in SDL activities in a skills laboratory. An exploratory descriptive quantitative design was used. A sample of 168 respondents was selected through simple random sampling. A self-administered 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed. The data was gathered and then analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21 software. Descriptive statistics were used to present the findings. It was found that learner nurses were self-motivated to learn with some challenges during the implementation of SDL.